


Youth Wars Part 4: The Cave of Secrets

by ExarSunrider



Series: Youth Wars [8]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Cave, Dark, F/M, Finally, Finally a sequel, Force Powers, Introspection, Jedi, Light Side, More Plot Twists, More revelations, Mystery, New Force Powers, Plot Twists, Post-Star Wars: A New Hope, Post-Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Post-Star Wars: Rebels, Post-Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Post-Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Post-Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Post-Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Post-Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Revelations, Secrets, Sith, Star Wars - Freeform, Suspicion, The Force, Updates, Very Alternate Universe, What is going on, Youth Wars, and even more plot twists, been working on this for months, climax, dark side, dark side of the force, facing your dark side, husband wife chemistry, i crossed another milestone, i was too lazy for a while to finish, i'm invisible, light - Freeform, light side of the force, not really - Freeform, now it's done, slight romance, story end, you can't see me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2019-10-28 22:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17796215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExarSunrider/pseuds/ExarSunrider
Summary: As the sith rise from the ashes, the Jedi trio take on the leader known as The Master. With no knowledge of where they're lead, they chase The Master to a mysterious cavern where they uncover secrets of each other.





	1. Chapter 1

 

Youth Wars Part 4: The Cave Of Secrets

 

Chapter 1

  
_Moments before the destruction of Kashyyyk..._

  
"Boys, I think it's time to go." Nicolette stated loudly as she looked into the sky.

  
"What is it?" Erickson asked.

  
"Let's just say if we avoid more questions, we'll make it out alive." Nicolette replied, speeding out to prepare the Republic shuttle for takeoff.

  
Erickson looked out the window and saw what she did.

  


  
"What is it?" Nikki asked.

  
"Yeah she's right. We need to move, now." Erickson said in panic. He, Rye, and Nikki took off towards the shuttle.

  
The shuttle was already warmed up, and Nicolette was in the pilot's seat. Everyone ran to the ship and boarded. Before Rye entered, he stopped for a second to look up at the sky, and he saw it there; he turned back and boarded the ship. The doors closed, and the shuttle hastily departed from the platform.

  
Everyone sat down and held on to their chairs. "Everyone hold on! I'm entering hyperspace coordinates."

  
"Outside a hyperspace la- we're still on the planet!" Rye nearly freaked out.

  
"It's our only shot at the moment." Nicolette shouted

  
The Death Star's laser emitted and shot down on Kashyyyk, and the fire blazed all around. The boom rang in their ears, but Nicolette had already pushed the lever, and they entered hyperspace before they were obliterated.

  
\---

  
"And now," The master started. "I will put you out of your misery." He drew his dark red lightsaber out and jumped to the team, about to decapitate all of them. But as the blade was only inches away from their necks, the glass of the window shattered as the comets broke through and 'disappeared', smoke filling the room and immediately being sucked out into space.

  
A hand reached out from the smoke, and the glass seemed to reverse back into place on the window.

  
As everyone got up, they looked over at the two new visitors. As the smoke settled, the two figures rose and revealed themselves.

  
  
("Need help?")  
  


Ezra, Sabine, and Aang's jaws fell to the ground.

  
"Double the score." The Master said, igniting his red lightsaber.

  
"I don't have time to waste with the likes of you." Bando said, making the master recoil.

  
Bando reached his arm out towards the crystal ball, the ball broke, and the crystal flew to him. He grabbed it, and inserted it into his- _'Mechanical arm?'_ Aang thought. Bando then glowed red for a second, as if he was feeding off the power, then reverted back to normal.

  
"But if it's a fight you want." Bando started. He turned his head towards Geoff, and he gestured to the team; Geoff went to set them free. "You'll sure as heck get one."

  
Bando paralleled his forearms, and there was a green aura above his arms; he X'd his arms, then released them. Green lightsaber blades emitted right above his forearms, practically hovering over them.

  


  
\---

  
"Geoff? Is that you?" Aang asked as Geoff cut everyone free with his yellow blades.

  
"Alive and well, Aang. It's been a while." Geoff replied as he and Aang shook hands.

  
"Aang, we need to-" Jo started.

  
"Not now, Jo." Aang said, facing Jo. He turned back to Geoff, who continued releasing everyone else from their bonds. "You've gotten older." Aang complemented, pulling his lightsabers to him, everyone else doing the same.

  
"It's been about thirty-five years, and you _haven't_."

  
"Wish I could say the same."

  
"Hey!" Exar interrupted. "No time to chat. We need to destroy this station."

  
"We're already on it." Geoff said. "The core is going to detonate in a couple minutes."

  
"How many do we have?"

  
"Enough for us to get out of here in time."

  
The master -hearing the conversation- disappeared without a trace. "I got this." Bando said as he did the same.

  
"What was that?" Aang asked, shocked at the move Bando pulled.

  
"That's our cue to leave. **_Everyone run_ _!_ _"_** Geoff replied as the whole team ran out into the hallway.

  
When the room was empty, Geoff looked around and into space; he approached the window and stared into the stars. He inhaled deeply, and exhaled heavily.

  
\---

  
"Where's Geoff?" Ezra asked.

  
"I don't know; he was right behind us." Sabine replied.

  
Then everyone heard a loud cracking noise, and Bando and the Master appeared on the same floor. Bando had the Master on the run as he dented the Master's mask. Bando force-pushed him into a nearby escape pod, and the Master immediately launched. Everyone's eyes widened.

  
"What a chicken!" Ephraim said, utterly shocked at what he just witnessed. And everyone started panicking as they saw Aang jumping into a pod.

  
"Aang! No!" Exar and Jo yelled as Aang launched. They followed Aang in one pod.

  
As everyone was about to try to stop them somehow, Bando said, "Let them go!"

  
"They're going to **_die_** , going up against him." Ephraim said.

  
"Their destiny is still being shaped out; to die now won't be their legacy." Bando said as he disappeared. _'At least let's hope so.'_

  
Everyone else reached the hangar bay down below them, and Ezra shouted, "Has anyone seen Geoff?"

  
"They don't know who he is." Sabine hurriedly told him.

  
Just then, Geoff appeared in the midst of them. "Everyone! Onboard now!" Geoff rushed. "We have less than a minute." Everyone was safely onboard by the time he finished.

  
"How much less _now_?" Ezra asked as he piloted his ship out.

  
"About fiteen seconds." Geoff replied. All the other shuttles were off the ground and starting to move.

  
"Ten seconds until the blow. Repeat... **_seven_ **seconds." Ezra commed the others.

  
Luckily, everyone wasn't in too much panic that the ships were rushing out and falling into each other. They made it out into space to watch the superweapon blow up, then cave in on itself.

  
"Did anyone else know this was going to happen?" Ezra asked Geoff.

  
"Well, no Imperial did. I assume you were expecting to see a couple TIEs out here."

  
"It's not the same without them." Ezra laughed.

  
"So what are your plans after this?" Geoff asked.

  
"Oh this was just a job thing for Sabine and me. We're heading back to Lothal afterwards."

  
"Ah. W-" Geoff cut himself off as he saw three escape pods a short distance away.

  
\---

  
The Master saw the escape ships, but continued at his pace in the pod. He grinned, then reached his hand out.

  
\---

  
"What does that mean?" A rebel asked, noticing a blinking red panel on one of the computers.

  
        Ezra and Geoff looked, then saw it was a notification that their air supply was failing. They did notice that they were having trouble breathing. Soon, they were all on the ground, gasping for air. Geoff put on his mask, and continued breathing. He pulled up a comlink and communicated with the other ships, saying, "Our air supply is failing; we need to dock, now." He said.

  
Geoff used the force to create an air bubble around as many people as he could. Ezra quickly breathed in, got up, and helped. One of the ships docked, and the door opened up. Ezra and Geoff helped every fighter onto the other ship.

  
\---

  
The Master sensed what was going on, and reached both hands out, then swiped them apart.

  
\---

  
Ezra and Geoff started up the metal shaft to the other ship, but it was split in the middle. People were trying their hardest not to get sucked out.

  
Ezra managed to reach the end and closed the door before anyone could get sucked out. "That was a close call, am I right, Geo-Geoff?" He looked around, but didn't see him. His heart dropped, and the color in his face drained. He ran to the cockpit and looked out the window.

  
And there was floating, Geoff's body. His air tank was damaged, and his mask was cracked, and he was freezing. Ezra tried searching for some sign of life, but didn't feel any. He started trembling, falling to his knees; tears began streaming down his face.

  
\---

  
        Aang was in Ezra's condition, only a bit more furious. After screaming out, he contacted the Master's pod. "You are going to die for what you did." Then cut it off before a reply came through. Aang noticed two triggers behind the steering handles. He hastily pulled them, but instead of blasts, a tracking device emitted and tacked the other pod. "WHAT!?" Aang then used up all the energy the pod could muster to speed forward and bump the pod.

  
\---

  
The Master jumped into hyperspace at once, after he entered coordinates.

  
\---

  
"These things have hyperdrives?" Aang exclaimed as he commed the team.

  
 _"Aang, you need to-"_ Exar tried.

  
"Don't try to stop me from doing this. I will avenge our masters, or I will die trying."

  
 _"We're not planning on stopping you."_ Jo told him.

  
"Good." Aang said, working on the hyperspace coordinates that the tracker was leading him to.

  
 _"I want him dead now, as much as you do. I was just going to tell you that you need to twist the button in front of the steering handles on the console to switch from tracking device to blaster."_ Exar continued.

  
"Oh. These are handy." Aang said, twisting the button to the right. "I'm sending you guys the coordinates." He sent the coordinates, then jumped into lightspeed. Exar and Jo soon followed.

  
\---

  
Bando watched from a distance. "May the force be with you three." Then lowered his head, and stared at the lightsaber and mask of Geoff in his hands. He had been able to nab them from space, on his way to help. He put Geoff's body on another ship to be taken care of.

  
\---Elsewhere---

  
Rye, Erickson, Nicollete, and Nikki arrived at Coruscant shortly, and landed at the Senate building; Bennar and Dex Inigo met them at the entrance. The two headed towards them, but Rye suddenly stumbled and leaned against the front of the ship.

  
"Rye?" Nicolette asked, siding up to him.

  
"I have a bad feeling. Like something has just been lost, or... maybe something more like, something will be lost."

  
"What might it be?" Erickson asked, very concerned.

  
"We need to contact our team." Rye simply said.

  
Erickson then became as concerned.

  
"What happened?" Bennar asked as he and Inigo approached.

  
"I don't really know." Rye answered. "Last we saw our team, they left to lead the attack on the Death Star. But it's hard to say if they were successful, because... it destroyed Kashyyyk."

  
"That was one of our biggest resources, what can we do without it?" Dex asked.

  
"We will avenge it, and every Wookie that went down with it." Bennar told them.

  
"How?" Erickson asked.

  
"Believe me, there is much we can do." Bennar replied. Then his personal hologram projector beeped. He picked it up, and answered it, expecting Calista.   
Bando appeared instead, startling him. _"Where? Is she?"_ Bennar started, very 'off.'

  
"No need to be afraid, Governor." Bando replied, putting a hand up as if silencing him. "She's helping other fellow allies recover. I will gladly report that the superweapon has been disposed of."

  
Everyone was speechless. Bennar looked up at Rye, then back down at Bando. "Any casualties?"

  
"Other than a few soldiers, just one." Bando replied.

  
"Who?"

  
"My friend. Geoff." He replied.

  
"Anyone else?"

  
"No other majors suffered."

  
Relieved, Bennar's spirits lifted like a heavy bag, dropped from one's shoulders. "When should you be expected back here?"

  
"Hopefully within the hour."

  
"Good. You'll be expected." The hologram shut off. "What exactly do you think you were sensing, Master Rye?"

  
"I don't know. It could be a warning of the future."

  
"Excuse me, could we talk about who _**that** guy_ was?" Dex asked. "Maybe the supposed warning was about him?"

  
"That, was Bando Roscoe. Dates back to the Imperial ages. Kind of an anti-hero, he is. Doesn't choose a side; you typically can't trust those kinds of people." Bennar explained.

  
"Whatever happened, it seemed as though he was on our side." Dex said.

  
"You can never be too sure. Now, masters, we shall report this to the Senate. They shall be glad to hear the news." Bennar said as they all made their way into the building. "Although," Bennar said, stopping them temporarily, "I'll give you some advice. Don't turn your back on Roscoe; he might mess you up."

  
Rye and Erickson shared nervous looks before they continued.

  
\---

  
"Without doubt, I'd say this turned out well." Bando said, meeting with the Lieutenant Governor.

  
"Indeed. Uh, who are you?"

  
"Oh, where are my manners?" Bando said playfully, though hinting sarcasm. He held out his hand, "Bando Roscoe."

  
Calista shook it a little hesitantly. "Calista Calfan."

  
"I know." Bando turned her hand over and danced his fingers over her palms. "Well well well, your legacy will leave its proper mark in galactic history."

  
Calista slowly withdrew her hand, and backed away.

  
"Don't act so shocked. The future is inevitable. We all have marks yet to be made; futures yet to be decided."

  
Calista looked back at him, a bit freaked out.

  
"What do you want your future to be?"

 


	2. Chapter 2

  
Chapter 2

  
The Jedi trio raced through hyperspace, determined and curious. They wanted so desperately to avenge their masters, and wondered where they would catch up to the Master. Aang opened the comm system and said to his team, "Guys, once we drop out of hyperspace, we're going to need to be ready. He could be waiting for us."

  
. . .

  
"Guys?" But all he heard was buzzing. He sighed, then gripped both steering handles. "Hyperspace-jammed comms."

  
He stared into the stars, pondering his decision. He knew he wanted to avenge his masters, and he was ready to die to do so. He thought so. _'Am I ready to lose everything else? Or... Are they ready to lose me?'_ He said to himself.

  
 _' "You've managed to stay young for decades... But you're afraid of what's to come." '_ He recalled The Master's words, and contemplated it much. _' **Am** I afraid of it?'_ That question lingered on his mind. _'Have I already seen the last of them?'_

  
He had enough time to think about it by the time he exited hyperspace. He saw a mysterious gray planet ahead, and the Master's escape pod in the distance. He looked to his left and saw Exar drop out of hyperspace; he looked to his right and saw Jo emerge. He tried comming them again, "We all ready?"

  
" _I am_." Exar replied.

  
\- -

  
"I'm not un-ready, but-" Jo replied.

  
" _Then let's go_." Aang interrupted as he and Exar moved on.

  
"Oh okay. Fine." Jo mumbled as he followed along.

  
They followed the Master's pod, but lost him in the clouds. By the time they reached the surface of the planet, they couldn't see The Master's pod. But they knew he went in the same direction; they could sense him.

  
They exited their pods, and tried seeing through the fog.

  
"Aang! We need-"

  
Aang shushed Exar as he tried making his way around. He tried sensing the dark side to track the Master, but sensed something else. He became more curious, and decided to follow to find out if what he was sensing could help them. "I sense something. Follow me."

  
"Aang!" Exar shouted as Aang ran off. He and Jo quickly followed in hot pursuit.

  
"We won't be able to find you in this fog." Jo said, but Aang ignored and continued.

  
Aang suddenly stopped and closed his eyes. Exar and Jo caught up to him.

  
"Aang, we need to-" Jo tried again, but Aang opened his eyes and sped off in another direction.

  
"Gosh. Aang! Slow down! This rocky terrain is getting to me." Exar called out again as he and Jo continued following.

  
They all came to a sudden halt when the force started ringing in their heads like a huge bell. The fog strangely, quickly cleared, and a cave stood before them. Then Aang could sense the Master.

  
"He's in there." Aang said, taking a step inside.

  
"Yeah-no I don't think so." Exar said, grabbing his arm and swinging him back outside. "Dude, you can't just wander into a random cave reeking with the dark side on a strange planet."

  
"We can't let _him_ wander around the galaxy, wreaking havoc wherever he goes. He quickly captured a fleet by himself; that alone makes me not want to let him go to find out what else he can do."

  
"Yeah but, consider what we're doing. Out of aggresion and a thirst for vengeance, we- you chased the most powerful man in the galaxy to cave and- we don't even know what's in there."

  
"Nothing worse than what we've handled before." Aang finished, stepping into the cave. "Are you with me?" He asked.

  
Exar thought about it, and hesitantly concurred; he didn't answer, just stepped up beside him.

  
"Jo?" Aang called.

  
"I think you're not fully grasping how dangerous this might actually be." Jo said.

  
"After all we've been through, don't tell me you're afraid _now_."

  
Jo needed no reply; he grumbled a little and followed them.

  
"Good. Let's go." Aang said as they ventured into the cave.

  
 _'I don't need to do this to prove I'm not scared, because I'm not **stupid**.'_ Jo thought to himself. _'But I'm not letting them do this by themselves.'_

  
\---

  
"Senators! Ambassadors! I've gathered this meeting, to tell you that this meeting has been cancelled." Bennar said. A quietness calmed the crowd, but one laugh was heard.

  
Bennar seeming to act humorous was a thought passing through many of the minds of the Senate; they knew this meant good news.

  
"I'm kidding." He clarified. He breathed in, then started again. "The Empire's reign of terror may have been put to an end. They had un-originally constructed another Death Star, but through perseverance and teamwork we have brought it down."

  
"At what cost?" One asked.

  
"Oh, not much. A couple soldiers, but no vast majority. I'd say we came out fairly victorious."

  
"And what of the sith?" Bennar was asked.

  
"They are of no concern anymore." Bennar responded with sincerity. "If they somehow made it, I have a plan to arrange them a meeting with the spirit of the dark side." That earned him laughs. "Consider us in control again." Bennar continued.

  
\---

  
Everyone from the mission arrived at Coruscant. Some weren't doing so well, coping with the loss of Geoff. Sabine and Ezra comforted each other; Bando checked on them.

  
"How well did you get to know him?" Bando asked Ezra.

  
"I doubt I did as much as you." Ezra replied. "He was always fun to be around; though he wasn't around as often as you were, we did connect. I didn't think he'd be gone so soon." Ezra sobbed a little.

  
"He's dealt with much loss beforehand; this is hard on him." Sabine spoke.

  
"I'm well aware." Bando told her in a slightly belligerent tone. Sabine furrowed her eyebrows in curiosity, but was somewhat offended by Bando's tone. She shrugged it off, guessing he was more angry then sad at Geoff's passing.

  
"Are you okay?" Ezra asked Geoff, also noticing his tone.

  
" _I_ am just fine. But as regretful as you are."

  
Ezra nodded, fully understanding him. He knew anger was a coping mechanism many used, and had to let Bando lash out. _'Not in here though.'_ He told himself.

  
"Everyone! We're home." The pilot of each vehicle announced to their passengers; they landed safely on the landing platforms. Many were there to greet the heroes of the Republic. Bennar, Rye, Erickson, Dex, and many others.

  
Everyone piled out to reunite. Rye and Erickson watched for their team as everyone was moving around; but felt their hearts drop as they didn't see them, only Ephraim at the end. He walked up slowly to the masters.

  
"Ephraim..." Rye started out, slowly and intimidatingly. "Where are they?"

  
"The Master... they went after him." Ephraim replied with obvious worry.

  
Rye assessed his statement, then asked, "Why did you let them?"

  
"We were uh, told to let them. They went after him because they thought you two died with Kashyyyk."

  
"Who told you to let them?" Rye asked boldly, stepping forward to Ephraim, making Ephraim step back.

  
"Him! Him." Ephraim panicked, pointing to Bando Roscoe.

  
Rye spotted him and remembered from the message to Bennar. "We didn't send him." He said, turning back to Ephraim. "How'd he get to the weapon?"

  
"That's a little hard to explain. You might ask him."

  
Bennar united gladly with Calista. "We did it!" He cried gladly into her neck.

  
"Ben! Bennar! There's still more."

  
He stopped then faced her. "What do you mean?"

  
"The sith. The one who attacked you on Kamino. I know who it is. There was more than just the Death Star."

  
"Wh...what? Who?"

  
"I can't tell you here." She whispered. "There's more. There's much more going on than we realize."

  
"That seems to be a recurring theme." Bennar whispered back.

  
"We need to talk." Calista told him flatly.

  
\---

  
"Bando Roscoe, is it?" Rye asked, putting his hand out.

  
"Indeed, Master Follnor." Bando replied, shaking his hand.

  
 _'Not even gonna ask how you know my name.'_ "I was told you _encouraged_ my team to chase a sith master? Have you perceived that you have hung their _lives_ on the line?"

  
"First off: I merely encouraged the others _not_ to stop them from going after him. Second off: their lives may be on the line, but it's _he_ who's running from _them_. It's a trap, no doubt; a master of evil would not run without reason."

  
"You're admitting they're running into death."

  
"You should've let me finish. They _are_ running into a trap; they know not what lies ahead for them, but neither does he. Your students have chased the Master into uncharted territory, and have ventured somewhere no normal Jedi has gone before."

  
"Go on."

  
"There are not many who have visited; some who go in don't come out, and those who have exited, have named it the cave of secrets. Fairly obvious title; a fairly obvious explanation for those who remained."

  
"What of those who didn't?"

  
"They learned that of which they wish they hadn't. You see, the cave is a maze and a mystery; it's just like knowledge. You're going the way you feel is right, but it is always misleading; you can never count on your own knowledge to get you through. _Plain_ knowledge is useless, so it must be expanded upon; as must all things, or nothing will change."

  
"You seem wise."

  
"And I'm perceptive. I noticed when you reveived the news about your team and came to me, your first thought was that they will die. It doesn't seem like you have much faith in them, master Jedi; good masters _always_ have faith in his apprentice. Apprentic _es_ in your case."

  
"Excuse me?"

  
"Apprentic _es_ in your case."

  
"No. Did you just insult my leadership?"

  
"No. The fear is understandable, but it has become repetitive. You didn't know where your learners were headed, so it would be natural to assume a fatal outcome. You see? Repetitive. Peoples' attitudes have become predictable. When things are predictable, they'll repeat. Things need to change in order for us to progress. And believe me, we will."

  
" _We're_ gonna do some progressing; _you're_ gonna help me and my brother find our team."

  
"I may or I may not. I have important business I might need to attend to; if I 'bail,' it's because of that."

  
 _'Almost fits the description the Governor gave him.'_ Ephraim thought.

  
\---

  
The trio journeyed deep into the cave; no one said a word to each other until they found themselves walking in the dark, and a strong twinge of the dark side.  
"He's close by." Aang said quietly.

  
"That's not what _I'm_ sensing." Exar added.

  
"Your whispers are so loud." Jo tried whispering more quietly.

  
"Quiet Jo." Aang said. "We need some light." He said.

  
Jo frowned at Aang's remark.

  
Aang grabbed one of his lightsabers to activate it. "Hold on, Aang. This cave reeks with the force; I'm not sure activating a kyber-powered weapon would be the best choice. Plus, it makes noise; we need to be quiet.

  
"What do we do then?" Aang asked.

  
"I finally get to use this thing." Exar replied, activating the night vision on his mechanical fake eye. "You guys follow me. Don't distance yourself."

  
Exar stepped around stalagmites; the other two followed his actions throughout a constant straight line.

  
-They work together when necessary, but bitterness is written all over them. The Jedi seek vengeance; it has consumed them: one is subject to resentment; one has been overcome by his somatic desires; and the other... has been overcome by the recent happenings. He feels guilty for tearing a bond he once had with his friends, and has been lead to believe his masters have deceased. All of them believe so as well-

  
Some of them stumbled along the way, stubbing their feet on rocks, but they persevered. They traveled some open areas, but came across rocks again. The cycle continued for a long while, then Jo noticed something strange.

  
"Is it me or does anyone else find it strange that we've been walking in a straight line for a long time?"

  
"What of it? That's all there is isn't it?" Aang wondered. "If we keep going, then we'll catch up to him."

  
"Only-" Jo brightened the light on his robotic eye, and looked to his sides; there were more openings to many more pathways. "Who knows many more of these we've passed already? He could be gone already."

  
"He's not gone. I can sense him here, but I can't sense _where_." Aang said.

  
"There is something more. Something's interfering with our senses." Exar figured.

  
"Maybe this cave has something to do with it?" Jo suggested.

  
"I don't think so. How could a cave do that?" Aang pointed out.

  
"How can a crystal contain power?" Jo shot back, knocking on one of his wrists where his kyber crystals were concealed.

  
"Either way, we might have something to learn here." Exar said.

  
"What are we doing, exactly?"

  
"The worst thing we _can_ do; the _only_ thing we can do."

  
"I would naturally disagree on splitting up, but I can't think of better ideas." Exar said.

  
"Neither can I. But if we split up, maybe we'll be playing right into the sith's hands." Jo said. "I think we should stick together a little while longer."

  
"Probably should." Exar agreed as they continued onward.

  
 _'Maybe by doing this, we're still playing his game.'_ Aang thought. _'No! No. He's just trying to get into my head.'_

  
"Aang, you alright?" Exar asked, noticing Aang hadn't moved.

  
"Uh... yeah. Just doing some thinking." He replied, catching up.

  
"Have you noticed anything different about Jo?" Exar asked very quietly; to his luck, Jo couldn't hear.

  
"Like what?" Aang wondered, equally quiet.

  
"For a while, he hasn't been his quirky self. He hasn't been saying as much, and he's been a little closed off."

  
"Would you know why?"

  
"I just remembered the conversation we had before we entered Jho's bar."

  
Aang thought about it and put the pieces together. "He probably feels lonely; left out of what we're doing."

  
"What can we do about it?"

  
"Nothing now; we gotta find this sith character."

  
"Wait!..." Exar proclaimed loudly.

  
"What?" Aang and Jo asked.

  
"Did you hear that?" Exar asked, beginning to shake.

  
Aang and Jo could sense Exar becoming afraid; they saw Exar jerking his head around. "Exar, what's going on?" Aang asked.

  
"There's something in he- Did you _**hear** that_?" Exar started trmbling as he fell to the ground.

  
"Snap out of it, Exar. The sith is getting to your head."

  
"No it's not a sith. I-I-I know it's not. It's a beast-"

  
"I don't see a difference, but-"

  
 _ **"No!"**_ Exar got up on his feet and ran away.

  
**_"Exar! No! We need to stay together!"_** Aang shouted; he and Jo chased after him. They saw Exar quickly turn a corner, and followed him; but they found that they lost him, for they had no eyes on him and they were standing in the middle of a cave "room" with multiple paths around it.

  
 ** _"Exar!"_** Aang shouted.

  
"Wait, Aang. Hold up!" Jo shouted, catching up. "This could be a very dangerous place to mindlessly wander after someone. We need to stop, and _think_."

  
"What's to think about? We're not going to let him stay here."

  
"I happen to be a pretty fast thinker. I've observed that this isn't just a regular cave, but it could be something more. I mean not just a cave, but the remains of... _something_. My point is: we shouldn't be messing around here."

  
"We're not leaving without him."

  
"Even after what happened with Erk, your trust in him has seemed to rebuild quickly."

  
"N-no. It's not that. What do you think the masters would think if we came back without him?"

  
"Aang, you need to consider that we might not go back."

  
. . .

  
Aang turned to Jo. "The sith is in here somewhere. We can't leave Exar to be killed by him. Surprised you didn't think of that."

  
"I had more to say. I know that sith is in here; he might be the reason we don't go back. If we blindly roam about, we could walk straight into a trap and die. We need to _'think,'_ about our next moves before finding Exar."

  
"I see your point. What do we do?"

  
That one act of submission sparked some hope inside Jo.

  
"Let's just meditate for a moment. We'll try to find out if we can find out where we are."

  
Aang faced the cave. "We can't waste time finding out where we are. We know enough; we need to fi-"

  
"Aang." Aang turned to Jo, who was sitting in his meditative position. "Sit."

  
The command took Aang by surprise. The next thing Aang knew; he was sitting down with his legs crossed, and his eyes closed.

 


	3. Chapter 3

  
Chapter 3

  
Rye and Erickson packed for their trip. They packed flashlights (they're going to a cave), ration bars, and spare clothing; and they _made sure_ to bring their lightsabers. They brought their supplies to a Republic shuttle. They were met by Bando and Ephraim shortly after.

  
"A shuttle won't be necessary. Only speeders; we will be going to Coruscant's underworld." Bando said.

  
"What'll be in the underworld?" Ephraim asked. Bando turned his head towards Ephraim; that told Ephraim everything. "Oh."

  
"There is someone, who has been to the cave, who is living in the underworld. We are going to consult him about the cave's whereabouts."

  
"You mean you don't know where it is?" Erickson asked.

  
"I have never been there. And I hope not to. I will help you discover the location; but from there on, I shall go no further. You will find your team on your own." Bando said.

  
"If we find our team dead, or if we find any of them missing, then you'll hear from us, the Chancellor, and the Emperor." Rye stated.

  
Bando took a couple steps forward, and looked at Rye dead in the eye. " _I_ ," he began, "answer to no one." Then he headed to the speeders.

  
"I don't trust this guy." Erickson said once Bando was out of earshot.

  
"But he's our only chance at finding the three." Ephraim said.

  
"You don't get a say in this, but I don't disagree." Rye told Ephraim, then him and Erickson.

  
"So what are we having this conversation for?" Ephraim asked.

  
"Is ther no other alternative?" Erickson asked.

  
"Bando is the only one who can help us at the moment. So that's a no." Ephraim said.

  
"So we need him to be our guide?" Erickson asked.

  
". . . Y-yeah; I thought I just made that clear." Ephraim replied.

  
"Guys?" Rye spoke up. "Could we?" He asked in a rush.

  
"Please answer, I'd like to get a move on." Bando said, startling the others a little.

  
 _'What's **his** rush?'_ Rye thought. "Yes, let's." He subtly agreed before they approached the speeders. Rye and Erickson shared quick concerned glances, but their unsettled feelings didn't go unnoticed by Bando.

  
\---

  
"Woah, woah. Slow down. What are you trying to tell me? First off, are you alright? You never hyperventilate." Bennar asked.

  
 _'Of all the times he could've brightened up.'_ Calista thought. " _I know who the sith is_." Then Bennar calmed down. "I know who _your_ sith is."

  
"Hold on, _my_ sith?"

  
"The one you encountered on Kamino."

  
Bennar stuttered, trying to assess what she said. "W-w-h-hold up. _What_?"

  
"I'm pretty sure you heard me."

  
"Well, w-who is it?"

  
"We were on our way to the reactor on the Death Star, and a shadowy, black-clothed figure appeared near the orange Zabrak kid. I noticed something familiar about him, according to a description given to me; but I didn't have time to think at the moment. Then we were briefly captured, and the leader of the Empire revealed him to us. Then it came to me. He was the sith you faced on Kamino. And I had no suspicion that he was Ephraim Stromgald."

  
. . .

  
"Who?"

  
"He partners with Rye and Erickson. He has glasses-" She stopped when she saw that Bennar knew who she was talking about.

  
"Him?" Bennar mouthed the word; Calista nodded. "I was informed he wasn't force-sensitive."

  
"Well someone did a good job of covering up."

  
"Who was it that covered up? Was it Ephraim? Or the one who told you he wasn't?"

  
"Who lead everyone else to believe he wasn't?"

  
Bennar took this in.

  
"We need to do something about this before it's too late." Bennar said, hastily exiting the room. "Stay here, Cal. Things could get dangerous."

  
"Won't you need backup?"

  
"I took him on once; I'll do it again."

 

"What are you going to do? He's a good friend of the others."

  
"When the teen Jedi are recovered, we'll interrogate them." Bennar said before he closed the door behind him.

  
. . .

  
_'When?'_

  
\---

  
"Guys?" Rye spoke up. "Could we?" He asked in a rush.

  
"Please answer, I'd like to get a move on." Bando said, startling the others a little.

  
" ** _Just a moment!_** " Bennar shouted across the speeder hall. He was aggresively stepping towards Ephraim, and the others bestowed concerned faces. "Is it true?" He growled at Ephraim, drawing out his lightsaber. A thin, yellow blade flowed out from his hilt; surprising everyone else except Bando.

  


**_(This is a fan-made image, of which I do not own)_ **

  
Ephraim dodged the swing from Bennar, then Rye and Erickson intervened. "Wait your honor!"

  
"I shall not hesitate to kill this sith."

  
"Stop. Don't embarrass yourself." Bando said.

  
"This isn't right." Rye told him.

  
"What _is_? Do you expect me to simply arrest him and be all like 'the Senate will decide your fate?' "

  
"Not, really? Is that how we do things?"

  
 _'Keep telling yourself that.'_ Bennar thought. "Doesn't matter. The sith needs to die."

  
"No he doesn't, your honor. He's making up for his actions by helping us find our students, his _friends_." Rye told him.

  
"His actions are worthy of death; therefore, he _will_ die." He judged, freezing Ephraim. "When you get back, we will finalize it. _Understood_?"

  
 _'Now I know what that Inigo Jedi meant by what he said about him. I'm liking this guy a little less.'_ Rye thought. "Yes, sir." He mumbled with a shaky tone.

  
"Be off, then." Bennar said. "And I _expect **you**_ to come back with them." He added, jabbing a finger at Ephraim, who simply nodded.

  
\---

  
"I can't sense him." Aang said.

  
"Then calm down. You can't detect people easily when you're stressed out." Jo told him.

  
"Easier said than done. You have no idea of the stuff I've been through. You know I'm not young; you know I used a force-aided machine to make me young again. It's doing stuff to my mind, and it's painful." Aang explained. Then he looked at Jo, who had a seemingly disapproving look on his face. "What? What's that face for?"

  
"What do you know of _my_ past?"

  
"As far as you've told me: that Ben Solo caused you to get your robot limbs. I know you've never known your parents; that must be tough."

  
"Mhm. Let me fill you in a little bit; I find it necessary now to tell you." Jo cleared his throat. "After I lost my limbs and my master, I was taken in by someone who was like my father figure. He took me in and later I got a job at a hospital with him. We were the best team the medical world had ever known."

  
" _That's_ why you looked like a medical droid."

  
"Mhm. Then the First Order decided to get a hand in our business, and blew up most of our hospital. And the thugs that made it happen were also responsible for the death of... the one who I would consider my father. That's twice in my life I was traumatized; but I seemed to shake it off well, unrealistically."

  
"Then _was_ it trauma?"

  
"Whatever it was, it was pretty scary; and that was just the first three chapters."

  
"I'd like to hear more, but I get your point. Now I know that it could be worse."

  
"With that on your mind, do you think you could relax a little? Let's find our friend."

  
"Maybe. I can't guarantee it."

  
"Do your best."

  
"Like I haven't been doing that."

  
They closed their eyes again and focused.

  
*snap*

  
"Got it."

  
 _'That was fast.'_ Jo thought. "Well which way?"

  
"I was told, wherever we decide."

  
"I don't think that's a good idea. We should stick together."

  
"No. If the force tells us to do something, then we need to obey it."

  
"Aang, remember what-"

  
"No. I'm following my instinct and the force." Aang finished as he got up and walked away. He used the force to find his path, and he set off. Jo didn't bother moving. He just sat. Then he sighed, and closed his eyes.

  
\---

  
Becky summoned both Kaiyah and Ailurah to her quarters on Coruscant.

  
"What's up this time?" Kaiyah asked.

  
"Have you ever thought about the possibility that Erk has a doppleganger?" Becky asked.

  
"Oh. It seemed fairly obvious, but I never talked to him about it."

  
"Why's that?"  
"He once told me that if something seemed really strange about him, that I shouldn't ask about it because it could be too much for my brain to handle."

  
"Oh do you really believe that?"

  
"Ephraim knows what he's talking about; if he thinks it could damage me, then I'll believe him."

  
"Oh Kat if only you knew."

  
. . .

  
"Of, what?"

  
"The human mind is capable of much more than you could imagine. Do you realize the technical marvels of today are only a fraction of what any brain can endure?"

  
"What do you mean?"

  
"There's always room for improvement. When one thing is accomplished, there will always be something that gets done to outdo the other. I'm saying: we might be able to figure out a way to do what Ephraim does."

  
"Hold on, is that really a good idea?" Ailurah asked.

  
"I sense it's the most efficient path ahead of us. If you end up dying, Kaiyah, not only I, but Ephraim will especially be in despair. If there could be more of us. There wouldn't be a worry about death."

  
"There might be consequences-"

  
"You're concerned for a sooner death. If we mirror Ephraim's actions, then we won't have to live a much longer life after he might pass."

  
"Becky, are you sure this is necessary?"

  
"Are you sure you'll be ready to live more of a life without him?"

  
 _'Woah!'_ Ailurah thought to herself.

  
"First off, we'd have to figure out how Ephraim did this. Are you guys with me?"

  
Becky had given them much to think about. Especially Kaiyah.

  
\---

  
The older Republic team picked a speeder and made their way to the entrance of Coruscant's underworld.

  
"Roscoe, what level are we searching?" Rye asked.

  
"First one we come to." Bando replied.

  
They flew down to level 5127 and paid to park. They exited their speeder and looked around.

  
"You guys been down here often?" Bando asked.

  
"Not really. We've spent most of our time in the Republic on Kashyyyk." Rye replied as they began walking around.

  
"Well you should get around more often; get to know the people of the Republic world. Underworlds are filled with beings of many kinds of mindsets; mindsets due to strange or tragic happenings. I guarantee you will learn from them, as I have." Bando said.

  
"You've been on Coruscant?" Ephraim asked.

  
"In my many travels with Geoff." Bando paused for a second, then continued. "He and I learned tons about the force, and monuments of force users thanks to people living down here. Monuments like the cave. People-"

  
"Wait wait wait. The cave is a _monument_?"

  
"It _was_ a monument. It was like a temple. As time faded, so did it. But the power within still remains. The cave is like a maze; mazes are carved into the cave to lose those who would strip it of its resources and power. Only those who are force-sensitive can find their way around."

  
"What do they find their way _to_?" Rye asked.

  
"Knowledge."

  
Rye became unsettled at that moment. "If the knowledge in that cave left people in distorted conditions, then our team is in more danger than we realize. What _more_ do we not know about that place?"

  
Bando stopped. "Master Jedi, we do not always gain the answers we seek. Your team has been mislead into thinking the Master killed you, and seek revenge. They know they can't match the Master with their own basic powers, so they may seek knowledge on how to defeat him otherwise to avenge you. But of course the force will know as well as we do, that you aren't dead. So they won't gain any answers."

  
"But how will we defeat him?" Erickson asked.

  
"We understand him. We get to know him. That's why _I'm_ here." Bando replied. "I know enough about the dark and the light side, so I have the power to defeat him. I can safely access the dark side to uproot him."

  
"Exar says there's no safe way to do that." Ephraim said.

  
"You of all people should know otherwise." Bando replied to Ephraim. "You were one of the dark side, yet now you are innocent. How did one manage?" He said somewhat sarcastically.

  
"It... wasn't, exactly a direct connection to the dark side." Ephraim answered, slightly suspicious.

  
"Were you or were you not of the dark side?"

  
Ephraim was curious about the questioning, and his hesitance to answer let Bando know he ought to let it be. They went onward, but Ephraim used his force bond with Rye to communicate with him. _'Rye, did you get all that?'_

  
_'I might've missed something. What's on your mind?'_

  
_'I have a feeling he knows the answers to what he's asking, and much more. He needs to be questioned as soon as possible.'_

  
_'Alright. But know that I got some questions for you as well.'_

  
_'Oh I suspected as much.'_ Ephraim stopped as they found themselves in front of an alley.

  
"Crazy guy hides in an alleyway. Seen it." Ephraim said.

  
"If that's what you know, then the stereotype will break." Bando said before they entered the alley. "These people hide from attention, and have to be called out." Bando created a small ball of light, and it expanded and shone throughout the alley.

  
"That's kinda new." Ephraim said.

  
They heard rustling around the alley, and looked around. They saw something on the wall moving, but couldn't figure out what. It looked like the wall itself was moving. Then they saw a figure come out from the wall. It looked like he was made of the wall, then he turned mostly invisible. Rye, Erickson, and Ephraim furrowed their brows at this strange figure.

  
"Yeah, I get _that_ a lot." The figure said.

  
"I am Bando Roscoe. We are here to learn the location of the cave of secrets."

  
. . .

  
"Why?"

  
"We need answers of our own." Bando replied.

  
"The cave is a cursed place. They don't give you answers, they give you nightmares."

  
"They?" Rye wondered.

  
"The beings inside the cave. They don't take anything lightly."

  
"What happened to you?"

  
"People had always frowned upon me for my deformation; I was bullied when I was young, and I was tortured for my wrong looks. I was tired of it, so I learned, and I searched. I searched for a place of which I could isolate myself. When I found that place, I came across the cave. I explored for the sake of isolation. I wanted to disappear. I felt no acceptance anywhere else in the galaxy, so I left. Then I met the beings. I told them I didn't want to be looked at the way I always was; then they did this to me."

  
"They made you... invisible?" Ephraim asked.

  
"They made me unseeable." The person replied.

  
Ephraim sighed. "If I had known you sooner, I could've helped you." He said.

  
"How so?"

  
Ephraim focused, then disappeared into a cloud of black smoke, then camouflaged himself into the smoke misting into the alley.

  
"I heard only a special kind of people could do that."

  
Ephraim suddenly appeared behind him. "How could you know that?"

  
Ephraim heard a brief, short yell and saw some trash bins suddenly knock over. "The cave beings told me. I did learn, but it came with this consequence." He then heard.

  
"There are other ways to literally blend in with the people. I could possibly still help."

  
"Ephraim." Bando said rather harshly. "Could we continue?" Ephraim remained quiet; Bando continued, "Do you remember where the cave is?"

  
"I don't. But I know one who might."

  
"How do you know someone else who has been there? You wanted to isolate yourself, so you made it come across as though you were alone."

  
"How do you think I learned about that desolate place?"

  
. . .

  
"Do you know where he is?"

  
"I know hardly anything about him, but I think I can help."

 


	4. Chapter 4

  
Chapter 4

  
Kaiyah and Ailurah entered Becky's room after consulting with each other about the idea that they were presented with. And Becky was there to greet them. "Your elated expressions have answered me already." She said.

  
"Oh really?"

  
"What made you make up your mind?"

  
"If Ephraim is willing to take a chance, then so am I."

  
Becky turned her chin up and hummed. "Well then, shall we go?"

  
"Why not? But, won't the Republic be watching us?"

  
"They might." She raised a hand. "Or they might not." Then Becky's fingers sparked. Understanding her point, Kaiyah grinned and nodded.

  
\---

  
Kaiyah, Ailurah, and Becky managed to sneak to the speeders, while leaving an inconspicuous trail of hover-camera droids behind them.

  
"That was easy." Kaiyah said.

  
"Where were the Jedi? I didn't see any." Ailurah added.

  
"I'm sure they were around." Becky said playfully as she powered up their speeder.

  
As the speeder flew off, Becky was asked, "Wait. Where exactly are we going?"

  
"Ephraim always has a log of his visits; he leaves a copy behind for us to see just in case, uh, anything. . . weird happens."

  
"Where is it? Is it in a chip?" Kaiyah asked.

  
"No. I was able to download it and with the help of my powers, I have just uploaded it into the speeder." Becky said, pressing buttons and pulling up the list.

  
"Well, it's, short." Ailurah said. There were only ten locations on the list.

  
"These are places visited by our Ephraim. One of these locations helms the answers we seek." Becky said.

  
"How do you know it was _our_ Ephraim?" Ailurah asked.

  
"He began keeping a log of his visits since his days of training." Becky replied.

  
"He's only been ten places in all that time? I strangely find that hard to believe." Ailurah pointed out.

  
"Ephraim has had two bases: Kashyyyk and Tatooine. He had one log of visits for each base. The-"

  
"Woah, there are two logs?" Ailurah asked.

  
"The two logs were compiled." Kaiyah said.

  
"Still. Only ten?"

  
"Despite Ephraim's skill set, he hadn't been able to go many places. Even when he joined the Republic, as you can see."

  
"So where _are_ we going?"

  
\---

  
Jo meditated and asked the force where it would like him to go; the force seemed clear as it gave him an answer. Jo stood and went through one of the cave walls of which he knew Exar or Aang didn't go through.

  
Jo walked through that path for a little while, and things became dark. He ignited his lightwhips; but then, the mixed force energy was making his crystals go haywire. His whips were turning on and off, so he simply unignited them and used the force -hoping it would be on his side- to guide his movements.

  
Once he was a good distance into the cave, he started thinking. He thought of how he had been treated by his teammates.

  
 _'Why?_ ' He thought. _'Why do they do this? Throughout the years I've been with them, they don't involve me with most of their activities; I feel left out. Throughout the years, I've done my best to help and support them, but I get no reciprocation; our friendship feels one-sided to me.'_

  
_'Why?'_

  
_'Why do they leave me out? I thought we were getting somewhere when it was brought up at Jho's. But it seems like it went in one ear and out the other the next moment. I feel like I don't matter as much to them as they do each other. Why do they make me feel singled out?'_

  
_'Why?'_

 

_'Why?'_

  
**_"WHY?!"_ **

  
Jo unknowingly became stressed out and hit the cave wall with his metal hand. He was so into his thoughts, that he was startled when he heard the rocks fall from the wall to the ground. All of a sudden, bad memories invaded his mind, and the feelings along with them. He clutched his stomach as he tried repressing the memories so he could move on. He had to find Aang and Exar.

  
\---

  
Exar dashed into another pathway and looked back. That was the last mistake he made before snapping out of his panicked state; he bumped into the hard cave wall and got his arm bruised a little. He groaned and fell to his knees, grabbing his arm and exhaling loudly. As he slowed his breathing down, he regained awareness.

  
He looked up, and looked around. He realized that something was messing with his mind, and was drving him away from his team. "Oh no." He muttered. He got up on his feet then shouted, " ** _Guys! Aang! Jo! Are you there?_**!" He received no response, and he remained quiet to make sure he could hear any response that might come. As he never received a response, he turned around and looked back where he came from.

  
"This deep into the cave, and I can still kinda see my way around." Exar said as he activated his eye visor on his mechanical eye. "But just in case."

  
He slowly and steadily trodded back the last way he knew he came from; he went through one straight walkway for a little while until he stumbled upon another selections of cave "doors."

  
"Well," Exar breathed with slight complaint, " _This_ is gonna be tricky. How am I going to find my way ba-" He then heard something. " ** _Hello_**?" He shouted. He saw a faded light through one of the caves and followed it, slowly. He sneaked around the edge of the wall and looked around the corners; and when the light source was just ahead, he ducked onto the ground and observed from there.

  
He looked on, but it faded. He quickly got up and entered the room and looked around. _'Aw no! Did I miss it?'_ He looked around for it more. _'What was that?'_ Then he noticed that there were no more pathways in the room he was in; there was just the one behind him. _'A dead end? This could be bad, or it maybe isn't a dead end.'_ He looked around again, took a deep breath, then sat down.

  
But no sooner after he sat down did he hear a voice. "Mirtis!"

  
The voice made him jump out of his skin. He thought the sith had found him, but then he found himself recognizing the voice as one he was more familiar with.

_'It's not the sith. It's definitely one tha...wait a se-hold up!'_

  
"Heceowa!"

  
It was a moment before the voice spoke again, and said the same thing. "Mirtis!"

  
"That's not my name anymore."

  
"Why did you renounce it? Why did you turn away from your _true_ self? Your _true_ destiny?"

  
"Because that area of my life was a trial of self-discovery. It wasn't me; it was just-"

  
"You lie to yourself all you want, but you can't run from your destiny."

  
Exar heard movement behind him, then turned to face him. "I'm not the one lying to myself, Hece... Heceowa?" It was Heceowa, but he certainly looked different.

  
  
  


 

"What are you?" Exar asked with a sharp, determined look.

  
"I, am me. This is my full potential. It could be yours."

  
"Seriously? You look like the decayed village crazy lady."

  
"Join us, and become one with yourself. Become 'Mirtis.' "

  
"Or we'll fight? Or I'll die? How much more cliché can you get?"

  
Heceowa hissed, which made Exar shiver. "Well _that's_ new."

  
Heceowa hissed again, only his mouth widened more, revealing many more sets of fangs.

  
 _'Well this should be interesting.'_ Exar thought.

  
Suddenly, Heceowa's fingers grew longer and sharper.

  
 _'This might actually be tough.'_ Exar thought, backing up.

  
Heceowa ran towards Exar, swinging his claws at him. Exar backflipped away, and landed to Heceowa's side. Heceowa turned his head and hissed. He lingered for a moment; then with a burst of speed, he ran and shoved Exar across the room into the wall.

  
Exar propped himself up on his elbows and saw Heceowa dragging his arms on the ground, intimidatingly approaching him like a stalker to its prey. Exar got up and pulled his lightsaber hilt out. He ignited it and they ran towards each other. Exar swung at him, but Heceowa X'd his arms and blocked the lightsaber.

  
Heceowa grinned, and Exar's face dropped. " _This_ is what you could be. The most powerful, _indestructible_ being in the galaxy."

  
"Hate to break it to you, but you're not the most powerful; that spot's been taken." Exar said before breaking away. " _Why_ are you _here_ , Heceowa?" He then asked.

  
Heceowa hissed again and swung his claws at him again. Exar only dodged them, but continued speaking, "You're here for power? Knowledge? What for?"

  
Heceowa punched Exar away this time. "You're not using your main features. You don't want to kill me, do you?" Heceowa roared at him this time. "You're trying to get me to reach my full potential." Exar thought for a second. "I sense something else; you're... you're... sad." Heceowa seemed to have frozen. "You don't just want me to reach my full potential don't you? You... just want me back."

  
Exar saw Heceowa turning back to normal, but he was fighting it; Heceowa was going back and forth, clutching his head and screaming.

  
"This is not something usually reacted to this way. Or... are you really in anguish?"

  
Heceowa continued struggling; Exar approached him and called out his name, "Heceowa." Heceowa stopped, and glared. "Is that what you want?" Heceowa's expression saddened. "I had no idea I meant that much to you. If that's what you want, then I'll come back. Or, maybe you could come with us." Exar held his hand out, and Heceowa hesitantly took it and shook it.

  
Exar then could've sworn he saw a tear emerge from Heceowa's eye. "I badly misjudged you. I'm sorry." Heceowa closed his eyes. Exar smiled, then he didn't feel Heceowa's hand. He looked down, and saw Heceowa's arm flaking away. He then witnessed all of him disappear into the wind.

  
Exar then looked up and around as small circles began glowing like stars; they were all over the walls. Then, as he was looking up, a bright white glow glared in his eyes. He covered his eyes, but managed to catch a glimpse at the doorway that appeared in front of him. He walked, and entered through the door.

  
\---

  
Rye, Erickson, Bando, and Ephraim followed their invisible friend; Bando kept a hand on his shoulder so they could follow properly. They shortly arrived at a small hut; they entered and sat in a circle in the center of the room.

  
"Now the one that can help you isn't exactly one you can simply 'go to.' He's someone you have to contact with the force."

  
"Like a force bond?" Ephraim asked.

  
"Not really. You see, he isn't exactly, _'here.'_ "

  
"But you can contact him?" Rye asked.

  
"You're force-sensitive?" Bando assumed.

  
"But I'm not a Jedi, nor am I a sith, or a gray."

  
 _'Wait a second. Contact!'_ Erickson received a thought. "Rye! Our team thinks we're dead; why don't we contact them to let them know we're alright? Then maybe they could tell us where they are."

  
"It won't work." The invisible man said. "The force is wild there. Much like signals, it can go haywire and it won't go through. You can't reach anything there or from there."

  
"But signals can be redirected." Rye said.

  
"Where would it get redirected?" Ephraim asked.

  
"If you're insinuating what I think you are, then there could be a new unlocked mystery on our hands." The invisible man wondered.

  
"Is it worth a shot?" Erickson asked them.

  
"No." Bando answered flatly. "It's dangerous. We need to do what we were originally going to do. We can't afford to risk anything by experimenting."

  
"Bando." Rye said. "I've only known you for a couple hours, and from what I know about you, your life is a risk."

  
"You don't understand, Master Jedi. It's dangerous to experiment with the force; it could turn you down a path you don't want to go down."

  
"Sounds like you speak from experience." Rye said.

  
"No. Not mine."

  
"Hey. Could we?" Ephraim suddenly asked.

  
"Ah yes. What do we do to contact this guy?"

  
\---

  
Aang felt very mentally troubled at the moment. He realized how he had acted towards Jo, and how he didn't try hard enough to keep Exar from leaving. He knew he could've done more to keep Exar from straying, and he took Jo's story into consideration; he knew he should've given Jo some compassion to help ease him.

  
There was no turning back now; they had all gone separate ways. Aang knew he had to find his teammates, and when he did, he knew what he had to do. With Jo, yes; but he still hadn't regained his trust in Exar. On one side, he knew Exar and Ephraim and did trust them; on the other hand, they had been leading double lives on both sides, and he was shaken between his belief. Then again, Exar did say that there was a reason for all of it; but it got them here. They were separated and lost in a maze of a cave. And they had no way back.

  
"What have we done for this? Why did we set down the path to lead us here? Are we to die here? Why the constant war?" Aang asked himself.

  
" 'Why?' indeed." A voice called, startling Aang.

  
"Is it a person speaking?" Aang asked.

  
The voice only chuckled. "Not a person, no. A _voice_."

  
"What is it you want? You wouldn't interject with me for no reason. And if you're not a person, who did you _used_ to be?"

  
"No need worrying about it. I am a guide."

  
"And why should I trust you?"

  
"For reasons like this exactly, you need a guide. You are troubled, and you can't work through it on your own."

  
"What do you want?"

  
"To help you."

  
"How can you help? I'm _lost_. _You're_ probably lost. I don't even know where I _am_!"

  
"You know not of the cave of secrets?"

  
 _'Oh boy.'_ Aang thought. _'With a name like that, I'm sure in for a ride.'_ Then he answered, "I can't say I have."

  
"Oh, you're in for a ride."

  
_'Mhm.'_

  
"The name speaks for itself. But there's more to it."

  
"There always is."

  
"When people hear of the cave of secrets, they immediately assume that if they find it, they will gain answers to questions they ask themselves their entire lives. Some gain the answers, only to use them for their selfish purposes."

  
"Others have discovered it?"

  
"But only few have left with their lives. As I was saying, those are the simple-minded meanings and takes on the cave. There is much more to it than question answers; for people can not only unlock mysteries to their lives, but also mysteries of themselves. The cave of secrets, is a place of self-discovery."

  
. . .

  
"What's the catch?"

  
"No one fully understands the weight of the answers they seek. They assume they can handle whatever answers they receive, but regret it immediately."

  
"Why are you telling me this?"

  
"For one thing: you must know it is important to know your surroundings; this is obviously no ordinary cave. Second: it is important beforehand to know the functions of your surroundings so you can properly survive."

  
"Who has discovered this place?"

  
"Only a handful. Only a fraction of that handful were able to leave; only a fraction of _that_ fraction were able to make it out with their life."

  
"I heard you say that before. What happened to those who didn't make it? Where did they end up?"

  
Suddenly, a bright light shone in the distance. Aang ran towards it, but stopped before he reached the end. He saw a group of dead bodies scattered all over the cave room.

  
"What happened to them?" Aang asked.

  
"Isn't it obvious? They died."

  
"How? What caused them _all_ to die conveniently in the _same_ room?"

  
"I would hardly call _that_ a convenience. They had all gained a rather disturbing epiphany, and it insanitized them. That, and they couldn't find their way out. They all ended up here and their insanity drove them to death."

  
"You are telling me this for a reason."

  
"I am giving you a chance to find your own answers. I sense you have many, many questions."

  
"The questions I ask myself, don't require mind-scarring answers."

  
"That may not be for you to know until you find out."

  
. . .

  
"Very well. Where do I need to go?"

  
"Follow me." The voice said.

  
 _'How?'_ Aang was about to ask, but he saw another light glowing from down the cave pathway. _'Oh.'_ He thought as he strolled along the cave pathway.

 


	5. Chapter 5

  
Chapter 5

  
Bennar was making his way through the halls of the temple, angry and concerned. The sith had slipped from him, and Ephraim didn't seem too concerned about what position the Republic was in in hindsight. And what would the Senate think if they had their suspicions confirmed that a sith had been within their ranks all along. It would be chaos.

  
_'I have to stop him before anything happens.'_ He figured. _'What can I use as leverage against him? What wou-'_ He stopped himself as he gave himself the idea. _'He has friends. I know of them; I've seen them. Where are they?'_ He knew they had a place to stay within the temple; he tried probing the temple to find their force signature, but didn't find them. ' ** _Where are they?!'_**

  
­---

  
The Jedi, Bando, and their invisible friend sat for a long time, trying to reach the one who could help find the cave and the team. They sat for a long time, but didn't connect at all.

  
"Are you toying with us?" Erickson asked suddenly.

  
"Sometimes he says 'yes,' sometimes he says 'no,' and sometimes he says 'not right now.' " The invisible man said.

  
"Oh please. We don't even know your name. Why should we trust you any further? We've been sitting here for a long time, and nothing's happened."

  
"I prefer to be known as what I am. Invisible man. And second off, I'm your only option; so if you want to find your friends, you'll have to stick with me."

  
"Erickson-"

  
"Your faith is weak." Bando interrupted.

  
"Excuse me?" Rye asked in defense of his brother.

  
"His lack of faith is preventing us from reaching out goal."

  
"Maybe it's your judgemental attitude keeping us from reaching it." Rye said.

  
"I am only here because you insisted I come. If you're going to be judgemental to me, then I'll leave. I have other business I need to attend to."

  
"Then _why_ did you come?"

  
"Because like _this_ , my business isn't the most important thing on my mind."

  
Rye narrowed his glare, but Bando's attitude and 'positive' body language remained the same.

  
"If I could interject," Ephraim said, "These two are our only bets at finding the team. I suggest we calm down and try again."

  
"He is correct." The invisible man said. "Let's, uh, take a few, and replenish ourselves."

  
Bando pushed past Rye and went outside.

  
\---

  
Bando was standing on the edge of the underworld cliff, staring down into the abyss. He was calm, but frustrated. He knew how to keep himself stable, as to not freak out and bring out bad memories. And speaking of bad memories, he sensed a very familiar presence behind him.

  
"What are you doing here?" He asked with a slightly threatening tone.

  
"I'm acting as a chaperone for your expedition group on the order of the governor." Sabine answered.

  
"Why do _you_ think _we_ need a chaperone?" Bando asked like she made a stupid decision.

  
"Like I said, it wasn't me."

  
"But you submitte- of course you did. If you submitted, you must've thought his reasoning, was reasonable. Why?"

  
"What's your problem with a chaperone?"

  
"I'm the most experienced man in the galaxy. Why would _we_ need anything more?"

  
"The governor may not trust you."

  
"Does he not trust the Jedi twins either?"

  
"Alright! You got me! I was curious what you guys were doing."

  
"Since when?"

  
" 'Since when' what?"

  
"Since when are _you_ curious?"

  
 _'He ought to know me better than that.'_ Sabine thought about who she was talking to, and gave it some more thought. "You're not talking about just me, are you? Honestly Bando, I thought you had moved past all this Mandalorian bias."

  
"I surprise even myself sometimes. I didn't know as much about Mandalorians as I do now. And if I was younger, I'd be on a rampage. Consider yourself lucky."  
Sabine was slightly offended, and sadly disappointed at Bando's change of heart. "What's keeping you back?"

  
"I have more important things to think about."

  
"How low do you think Mandalorians are?"

  
"Do you _really want_ an answer to that?"

  
"Why do you _have_ to hold such a grudge against us?" Sabine asked, her temper beginning to flare.

  
"Because of what they did to me, and more."

  
" ** _Again_**! I thought you had moved _past_ all that!"

  
"That was only for my time in the rebellion. Plus, I know more now."

  
"You know, for someone who apparently _hates_ Mandalorians, you sure know a lot about them."

  
"To overcome your enemy, you must know your enemy."

  
"Enemy? You want to wipe us out?"

  
"I said 'overcome,' not 'wipe out.' "

  
"But we're still enemies?  ** _Why_ **do you care to know so much? **_Why_** did you know so much in the first place?" Sabine pushed. "Why do you have to know so much about them? Why, do you have to prolong this grudge? Why can't you let go? I had to let go of my inner demons so I could reach my full potential in the rebellion. I, a _Mandalorian_ , let go of my selfish desires. Why can't you? **_Why_ **can't you let go of Mandalorians? **_Why_**?"

  
" _ **Jorcu ni am mando! Ni am cuyir te tal!**_ " Bando replied.

  
 _'Holy s-'_ She bumped into someone walking by; she apologized and neared Bando. She tried asking him about it, but she found herself stuttering.

  
"My own kind, _our_ kind, betrayed me. So I vowed I would destroy them all; but like I said, now, I only desire to overcome them."

  
"What do you plan on doing?"

  
"What I do, is _no one's_ business, but _my own_!"

  
"Maybe that's why the governor might not actually trust you."

  
Bando hadn't thought about that.

  
"And what about Geoff? Did he know?"

  
"He knew some." Bando paused for a second, then continued, "I did say that what I do **_is_** , my business, and only my own."

  
"Well, Bando, I understand now. I know what it's like to have your back turned by your kind. I understand the pain you go through."

  
"No, you don't. You know nothing of it. There's more to it than the emotional scarring and the literal scarring." Bando said, gesturing to his masked face.

  
"How is, _that_ , by the way?"

  
. . .

  
"It's a _scar_. It doesn't go away."

  
An awkward moment of silence passed, then Sabine slowly backed away.

  
"Wren!" Bando called before she was out of earshot. She stopped to listen. "If you, tell _anyone_ , of what you have learned -even Ezra- I will not _hesitate_." Sabine knew what he meant, and knew he was serious. She nodded, and continued her way back. Bando watched as she actually moved away from where he was. She left the underworld. Bando turned again and stared back into the underworld.

  
\---

  
Jo walked along the cave, desperately trying to locate his friends' signatures; but still, he wasn't yet successful.

  
" ** _Kriff! How am I ever going to find them in this, this junk hole_**?!"

  
Jo wanted to end it then and there. He knew he could, and he felt strongly urged; but he had much else on his mind.

  
"Why would they leave me? I may have a fast brain, but not a sense of direction. Not a _good_ one, at least." He leaned against the wall and slid to the ground. He leaned his head back and said to himself, "Man, if I could've found a way to avoid this-"

  
"Would you have done it?" A voice asked him. Jo jumped to his feet defensively.

  
 _'I know that voice.'_ Jo thought. "Ben?"

  
"You could've avoided it."

  
"Ben, is that you? What are you talking about?"

  
Oh you know. If you didn't turn your back, you wouldn't have ended up here."

  
"Show yourself." Jo commanded. He then saw a silhouette approaching him. "Ben, if that's you, what are you doing?"

  
The shadow approached him, and the image started clearing. Jo saw Ben again, but he was in his full First Order regalia. Jo gasped and ignited his lightwhips, and they were working this time. Kylo Ren ignited his crossguard lighstsaber.

  
\---

  
Aang reached the light at the end of the cave, and beheld the room which was before him. "This isn't just an abnormal cave is it? This, is a temple, isn't it?" The room was similar to the one Exar was in, only it didn't have the strange, giant crystal on the wall on the other side.

  
"Neither a Jedi one nor a sith one." The voice said.

  
"So I can have the answer to any question here?" Aang asked.

  
"The few you've asked yourself the most."

  
"What do I gotta do?"

  
"Place your hand on the crystal, and ask the questions. Use the force; use your mind. Don't speak; think it. Feel the force flow within you, and let it guide you. Then, you will gain the answers you seek."

  
"Huh. What kind of crystal is that?"

  
"For that answer, you must ask _it_."

  
"And I can't waste a try on that." Aang mumbled. He remembered the questions on his mind and approached the crystal and followed the steps he was told. He closed his eyes, placed one of his hands on the crystal, and thought it out carefully.

  
Aang opened his eyes and saw only blackness. He looked around and saw nothing _but_ black. Then he saw a light orb, and saw as it formed a humanoid shape.

  
"Now what are _you_?"

  
"I, am, the answer."

  
Aang nodded.

  
"You will not gain the answer you seek, the way you expect."

  
"How will I-"

  
"Why do you ask such a question?"

  
"The Jedi have fought for many millenia, trying to keep the peace throughout the galaxy; but no matter what happens, war always returns. I want to do what's best for my galaxy, but the problem is unchanging. Please, if you have the answer, tell me if we're fighting the right way or not."

  
"The problem... isn't how you fight, but how you don't."

  
"What?"

  
"For an old Jedi, you're not as intelligent as I expected."

  
"Get on with it."

  
"The problem is how you _don't_ fight. Quarreling won't solve anything; it will only make things worse. The political biases, the religious controversies; all that won't end any fighting. What needs to happen, is the discovering of the middle ground."

  
"We've tried, but never enough people are willing to comply; middle grounds typically revoke others' ways of life and contradict their opinions."

  
"Then it'd being done wrong."

  
"How can you find a compromise between two groups of people who's views are completely opposite?"

  
"If that's the case, then there is no middle ground."

  
"Woah woah wo- huh?"

  
"If their views are opposite, then there can't be a middle ground. If that's the case, then there's only one option, but no one would dare go that route."

  
"I'd beg to differ. The two groups would do anything to wipe out the others."

  
"That may have to happen?"

  
"You sound so sure. Who are you?"

  
"I'm not what I seem. I am but an illusion."

  
"Like a force ghost?"

  
"Yes, but no. I'm not dead, but I'm not here."

  
"Oh! You're projecting yourself?"

  
"I am. I, am the one your enemy has searched for, but failed to find. I, am Galen Marek."

  
"I think I've heard of you. And to think you know what everyone else wants to know, and that you can change your appearance when you project yourself, is amazing. I want to know more."

  
"Mark my words! I was not bestowed this knowledge by accident; what I've done, has caused a great strife within the universe."

  
"Mistakes are reversable."

  
"No. Not this one. The galaxy, the galaxy is ending. Save the galaxy."

  
Aang remembered those three significant words.

  
\--

  
Before Aang got up, he heard the Neimoidian mutter a few words.

  
 ** _'Ancient... Legend... Resurrected... Save the ga-*cough* galaxy._** ' _Then he passed._

  
\--

  
But Aang recognized a contradiction. "If the mistake you said you made is irreversable, then how can we save the galaxy?"

  
"That answer, I cannot give. I am not one to tell you how to save the galaxy; I don't think there is even a way to do so. My actions will have brought about the apocalypse, but there is a way around it. It is up to the Jedi to save it."

  
"Who? What Jedi?"

  
"That answer, I cannot give. But what I can give you, is this." A piece of brick appeared in front of Aang, and Aang caught it as it dropped. He observed it all around, but saw nothing. "What is this?"

  
"You will find out in due time."

  
"Alright... I've prepared my other questions."

  
\---

  
Ezra met Sabine back at the Jedi temple. "Sabine, where were you?"

  
"I followed Bando to find out what he was up to."

  
"Up to? What did you find out?"

  
"He said what he does is his business and his only."

  
"Sounds like Bando."

  
"But he did say that masters Rye and Erickson were with him."

  
"And that Ephraim character isn't here either. The three Jedi teens are gone; I think they're trying to find them. Should we help?" Exra suggested.

  
"I'm not sure Bando wants me there."

  
"But he won't mind me. If he has a problem, then he'll have to take it up with me."

  
Sabine smiled and slightly chuckled. "I definitely didn't meet you by chance."

  
Ezra smiled back, then asked, "Now where were they?"

  
"The first underworld level we come to."

  
"Bridger!" Calista called out.

  
Ezra and Sabine turned to her, and Ezra greeted, "Your honor."

  
"I need to know. How... experienced, are you?"

  
"Well, I've been a Jedi for most of my life. I am pretty experienced."

  
"Good. My husband needs help. He used to be a kind but fierce warrior, but now a dealing with a sith has gone to his head, and he's not been himself."

  
"You think he might have a force infection or something?"

  
"I don't know what it is, but he needs help."

  
Ezra and Sabine shared a glance, then looked back at Calista. "I'll see what I can do, but it'll have to be brief; we have other business to attend to."

 


	6. Chapter 6

  
Chapter 6

  
Kaiyah, Ailurah, and Becky paid for spaceport tickets and boarded a ship to Tatooine.

  
"Becky, you know I'm now all for doing this, but do we have to go back there?" Kaiyah asked Becky. "That wasn't one of the destinations on the list; and I'm pretty sure he didn't do, whatever it was he did, on Tatooine."

  
"We're going to need every possible clue we can get if we are to fully understand everything going on."

  
"What do you mean?" Ailurah asked.

  
"It's not a simple, childish magic trick that Ephraim has a doppleganger. This is some heavy force use; we can't use it ourselves without knowing any consequences."

  
"I'm starting to understand, but it still doesn't answer my question." Kaiyah said.

  
"To have successfully performed something like that, Ephraim must have studied the ways of the force and prepared for it for a _long_ time. He _was_ the most experienced of everyone there, so I'd suspect as much."

  
"I'm not comfortable going back there." Kaiyah mumbled.

  
"I'm not either, but we made this choice to follow Ephraim's footsteps; we have to be willing to do whatever we can to do so. We have to do whatever we can for him. Right?"

  
Kaiyah nodded slowly.

  
"We must overcome our demons, Kaiyah."

  
"Wow." Ailurah said quietly. "Why haven't I hung around you?"

  
"It's all but a memory, Kaiyah." Becky told Kaiyah.

  
"Alright, alright. I get it. I'll stand it."

  
\---

  
Calista brought Ezra and Sabine to Bennar, who was pacing around in his room. Once they entered, Bennar said, "Please tell me you have news." Then he processed that Ezra and Sabine were there too. "What's this?"

  
"Ben, you've been more stressed than usual, and it's worrying me. Jedi Master Bridger is here to assist."

  
"Jedi Master," Ezra mumbled with a chuckle. "Just _'Ezra'_ s fine. Or, _'Mr. Bridger.'_ "

  
"Very well." Calista muttered. "Mr. Bridger is going to help you."

  
"I don't _need help_. I just need the head of the sith on my wall." Bennar said.

  
"Ephraim has been one of us for years; he doesn't deserve to die." Calista pointed out.

  
"He's been a sith his whole life!"

  
"Everything he's done was for the _Republic_. Becasue of him, we were able to destroy the superweapon."

  
"All a ruse. His master is still out there, and we have no idea where he is!"

  
"First off, what makes you think it's a ruse?" Ezra asked.

  
"The fact that everything that happened only enabled the sith lord to escape should tell you something."

  
"That's not really saying much; Bando chased him away."

  
"I don't trust Bando!"

  
"I don't trust him either, but after all he is my friend. He does everything he does for a reason, and his plans are very much flawless. His goals are always reached, and they're typically for the greater good."

  
"For a 'good' guy, he sure seems to scream vigilante."

  
"The point is: Ephraim does the same. Whatever is done, is done for the right reason. It's not always our way." Ezra said.

  
"You mean we're not right?" Bennar quizzed.

  
"Not always. At least, as far as I know."

  
_'Are we?'_

  
\---

  
Jo steadied himself as he faced -what he thought was- his former enemy. Ben kept approaching, but Jo stood still.

  
"Ben, what are you doing? Why are you dressed like that again? I thought you didn't have that lightsaber anymore."

  
"After all these years... I thought you would've gotten smarter."

  
"I thought you were less confusing."

  
"I'm not real." Jo understood then. "I am merely an illusion."

  
"What are you doing here then?"

  
"I'm here to show you an alternative."

  
"To what?"

  
"To avoid this." Ben replied as he looked around the cave.

  
"I don't see how I could avoid this; I'm already here."

  
"You could've avoided this easily."

  
"How are you staying on track? You say you have an alternative to avoid this, which doesn't make sense; then you say I could've avoided it. I thought you would be less confusing."

  
"You could've avoided this one way; you can still make that decision."

  
"Enough riddle-speaking, if you don't mind."

  
"Do you remember?" Ben asked. Jo was about to rant again, then took to note that Ben was sharing a memory. One of Ben's memories of which Jo needed to remember.

  
_'A shared experience.'_ Jo thought, _then_ he remembered. _'Oh heck no.'_

  
"Are you still salty about my decision to leave the First Order for the greater good?"

  
"That wasn't it. It partly was, but there was also an alternate for that."

  
. . .

  
"What?"

  
"There is a way." Ben paused for a moment. "There is a way we can go, live alternate lives."

  
"What alternate life?"

  
"One. Free. Free of war. Free of pain."

  
"That's the alternate to the First Order decision?"

  
"We take the crystal as our own; conduct our own experiments; become the most powerful people in the galaxy."

  
"What happens if that happens? What experiments?"

  
"We unlock secrets of the force, and make an army of undefeatable Jedi, and we rule the galaxy."

  
Jo was doubtful. "Jedi?"

  
"Yes."

  
"You were a servant of _evil_. If we took the crystal _as our own_ , why would you make an army of Jedi?"

  
"You'd have to find that out on your own."

  
"Still, how can I make the decision to stay with the First Order? That was years ago. There's no turning back."

  
"What if I told you, there _is_ a way to go back?"

  
\---

  
Exar thought he had gone in a circle, because he had ended up in the same room as he was just in, only the lights that filled the room were not glowing. Then he noticed the door he went through wasn't there either.

  
'What is this now? Did I do something wrong?' He asked himself.

  
"You did so much wrong." Exar heard, making him jump out of his skin. What particularly scared him was that this voice was very familiar.

  
"Aang? You there?"

  
"Yeah I'm here. Jo's here too."

  
"Where are you? I can't see you." Exar said, looking around.

  
They appeared behind him, and they didn't look happy. Exar was relieved to see them at first, but his look soon disappeared as he saw theirs. "You guys okay?" He asked.

  
"We are, but you're in deep." Jo answered.

  
"What do you mean?" Exar asked. He felt his stomach start to ache; he had a bad feeling about what was happening.

  
"We talked it over, and we both agree. The secrets kept inside your head, aren't worth the team's loss." Aang said.

  
"What does that mean?"

  
"So far, your secrecy has kept us from victory. You always have more up your sleeve; if this is going to keep going on, then we don't need you."

  
It's just as Exar suspected. He figured the condition of the team's trust would lead to something like this. He was hurt; however, he wasn't hurt too badly. He had dealt with betrayl and mental pain before; this was nothing new, but it still hurt.

  
Then, he felt something. Something else. Something he had never felt in this type of hurtful situation. He had experienced this before, and he was tired of it. He wished it would stop. Then he realized it. He was angry. No. Furious.

  
He had a painful past. He had to let go of his life before he found the team. The team helped Exar build a better life off of the bitter memories of his past, but there went the team, stabbing him in the back. He had ran off in panic earlier, and this is what happens the next time he sees them. He needed this to end.

  
"I'm gonna stop you right there. I've heard all this before, you know?" He snapped. Aang and Jo then were curious. "I've been _backstabbed_ before; I've been _cast out_ before. But I realized something. I realized, that every time I get cast out, I end up with a surrogate family better than the former." Exar approached them with a twitching mouth and nose. "If this is the way it is, then I'll be happy to leave you. You never truly accepted me."

  
"I was right not to. You kept secrets, and it has cost us a ton. I had my doubts on hiring a Zabrak to the team, and I was right. I blindly trusted you, and now the galaxy is in danger."

  
Now, Exar hadn't been profiled like that before, and he was purely offended. He grabbed Aang's throat with his mechanical hand, and squeezed. Jo approached Exar, but Exar faced him, glared, and force-pushed him into the rock wall.

  
When Jo recovered, hew witnessed Exar's eyes glow green and misty. Exar then twisted his metal hand and broke Aang's neck and angrily approached Jo. But before Mirtis got to Jo, he noticed Jo start to flake away, just like Heceowa. He turned to Aang, and saw it happen to him. _' **This** was a vision?'_ Mirtis concluded before he calmed down, and Exar returned. Exar fell to his knees in mental despair. _'What **was** that, though?'_

  
"That, was, a sneak peek. Into their minds." The voice said.

  
"They think that?" Exar wondered.

  
"The Besalisk thinks that, but doesn't act out. His Jedi side knows better, so he keeps on. What you saw, in general, was his dark side. And you lashed out with yours."

  
Exar sighed, then with a shaky tone, admitted quietly, "I did."

  
"You have proven yourself powerful to overcome others' dark sides. You are a force to be reckoned with, Mirtis."

 

"My name is Exar- wait. Was this a test?"

  
"It was."

  
Then a door -just like one he had gone through earlier- opened up on the other side. Exar heard it, stood up and slowly approached it. "What will I see when I go through?"

  
"The greatest challenge everyone faces. You have deemed yourself worthy of taking this test, unlike few others."

  
"It'd be a shame if I stopped now." Exar said as he walked through.

  
"Indeed."

  
\---

  
Ezra and Sabine finished their conversation with Bennar and were talking to each other about it.

  
"He has a point." Sabine said. "If Ephraim pledged himself to both sides; he can be trusted by neither."

  
"But then again, the Empire doesn't know of his secret. So we have an advantage."

  
"But nevertheless, he's still dangerous to us. Who knows the kind of stuff the sith in charge could do to him?"

  
"Maybe. But now, he's helping look for lost Jedi. I think that might speak for itself."

  
"I hope you're right."

  
\---

  
"Kaiyah, we're here." Becky shook Kaiyah awake. Kaiyah got up, rubbed her eyes, stretched, then looked out the windows. Tatooine was right there.

  
_'I still don't have a good feeling about this. But it's for Ephraim.'_ Kaiyah thought.

  
The transport arrived at Mos Eisley Spaceport, and it landed in the docking bay. The pilot droid announced the arrival, and people started exiting the craft. As the three were the only other ones left, Becky swiftly deactivated the droid and took over the ship. She immediately lifted the ship off the ground and glazed over the surface of Tatooine.

  
"Is this legal?" Ailurah asked.

  
"Is anything we've done legal?" Becky retorted.

  
"Touché."

  
"How far away from here is it?" Kaiyah asked.

  
"Not very far by ship." Becky answered.

  
Kaiyah just hummed in response, then continued staring out into Tatooine's plains as they flew. They flew silently over the sand, and passed a Tusken Raider camp.

  
\---

  
They flew into the middle of nowhere, above the hidden gate that opened to their secret hangar bay. The three of them used the force to open the door, and they descended inside to the landing pads.

  
They exited their ship, and Kaiyah and Becky had next to no enthusiasm. They explored the complex with much distress, but it didn't show in their physical attitudes and appearances. They looked around the halls, at the walls that had blood stains and chunks of rock taken out.

  
"Seems like a massacre." Ailurah mumbled. "Where exactly are we headed?"

  
"Where Ephraim could study the force on his own." Kaiyah answered.

  
"His room?" Ailurah asked.

  
"One of two options." Becky said.

  
They found Ephraim's room and looked around; it was almost empty. All there was, was a single drawer. Kaiyah opened it up and found a book inside. It wasn't very thick, but it looked as old as it should as a journal of Ephraim's. Kaiyah flipped through the pages and saw not much information written on the pages; there were many blank pages in the book, which confused her.

  
"This can't be all." Kaiyah said.

  
"No it can't be." Becky said also unnerved.

  
Kaiyah dropped the book back in the drawer, and felt a weight drop in her chest.

  
"Kaiyah." Becky called, but Kaiyah didn't move. "We didn't come all this way for nothing. This," She gestured to the book, "Is nothing compared to the revelations we may soon uncover. Now, are you sure you'd like to continue?"

  
"What else is there?" Kaiyah asked.

  
"This home of ours is hidden from Tatooine's surface. Who's to say there isn't something hidden from _this_ surface?"

  
"Random theory. Where could we find anything to lead us there?"

  
Then, the drawer started going down, and the floor panel under it descended as well. Kaiyah and Becky looked at Ailurah, who was poking at a small hole in the wall. Ailurah jerked her head in their direction when the drawer moved.

  
"Well I think we can all agree this seems a little convenient." Ailurah said.

  
Becky and Kaiyah looked back at the secret passage, and looked down. The passage was dark, of course. Kaiyah made a torch with her hand and took a step. Taking another consideration, she shot a line of fire through the tunnel, and they saw several spider webs hanging all over. The fire seared through the middle of the webs, and many spiders fell from the roof of the tunnel.

  
"Oh heck no." Kaiyah said. She created a bigger fire burst and burned the floor, killing the spiders.

  
"Kaiyah. Stop. We don't know how long the tunnel is, and we don't want to burn anything on the other side." Becky said.

  
Kaiyah immediately stopped. I got em a good distance through. Let's go." Kaiyah said as they went down the short stairway and walked through. As Kaiyah spotted spiders, she sent a fire bolt its way and sent it to the ground. "It's a wonder how tiny insects or bugs find their way into hidden or tiny passages." Kaiyah said.

  
"One of the many mysteries of life." Ailurah said sarcastically.

  
"Guys." Becky said, stretching her arms out, stopping everyone. "There's something here."

  
"Like what?" Ailurah asked, concerned.

  
"Technology."

  
"Oh." Kaiyah relieved.

  
"Kaiyah. Light up the room." Becky said. Kaiyah lit up a bright flame, and they beheld a big room ahead of themselves.

  
\---

  
"Now I know I can learn much from subtle clues, so I'm not one to waste questions. You said you were the fabled Galen Marek; but if that's true, then you are -or were- mortal. I'm curious how you came across all this. My next question is: are you the spiritual inhabitant of this cave? Or are you here in place of something else?" Aang asked.

  
"Certainly a perceptive one you are. I cannot give a direct answer without explanation, and you are not to have asked that question wastefully."

  
"I have time."

  
"Very well. My story is: I was a scientist in the days of the First Order; I was a breakthrough for them, and a reason for most of their success. My codename was Starkiller, hence their naming their super weapon after me."

  
"Starkiller Base."

  
        "Precisely. I thought it was a bad idea, and I openly stated that if we repeated former plans of galactic domination, then we would be _defeated_ the same way. And I was right. So before anything had a chance to happen, I fled from the Order and gained popularity within the Republic Senate. I was popular with the council of the Order, which kept me secret from the outside world. That made it easy for me to fit in with the Republic. With a hand in both sides, no one could do anything about what I did. I became an unbiased scientist. I was well-known all over the galaxy for what I made, and I created much that improved the lives of everyone across the star maps. But I wanted to do more; I wanted to involve the force, to unlock mysteries of it, and more. But my doing so cost much. I paid the price for my dealing with what I could never fully understand.

  
"Were you imprisoned here?"

  
"I was, but some of the knowledge still remains."

  
"Is there anything you can tell me?"

  
"I've been waiting for someone to come along so I _could_ tell him. This is the most important thing you could ever know, so pay _close_ attention."

  
Aang wasn't sure how it happened, but the voice gave him knowledge like it was whispering to him. Before, the vice was always clear and audible, but this felt more like a whisper in his head. And Aang was suddenly ecstatic and fired up, excited at what he was just told.

  
"Don't freak out." Galen's voice said. "Take a moment and let it set in."

  
"I had always wondered if that was true. But, tell me that last part again."

  
"I've been trapped here ever since. Whatever the chunk of brick I gave you has, is a clue to what will enable my escape. Then, I will be able to help you save the galaxy from the coming threat."

  
"But if we can get to the sith beforehand, it won't happen. When you come out, the galaxy will be peaceful again."

  
"The first comer is one very powerful. You must know him to defeat him."

  
"First comer? Where i-"

  
"Ah! Ah! Ah! That'll count as your third question, and you are no match for him. We can't have you dying before your time; there's more you need to understand before leaving."

  
"Alright. Talk; I'll listen."

  
\---

  
"I have to go back to Kamino." Bennar said as he began packing. "I need to be in better hands if I'm to sort myself out."

  
"The Chancellor." Calista figured out.

  
"Yes." If anyone can help me, the Chancellor can."

  
"What about the Supreme Emperor?"

  
"No one knows where he is; he was only in office a little while before he disappeared. He had reportedly messed with the force, and had suffered consequences. No one has seen him in ages. It was actually because of his absence that the drought endured in Coruscant. We've yet to state that he died or didn't. That is the only reason the Chancellor hasn't been promoted to Emperor yet."

  
Bennar finished packing and headed to a docking bay. He prepared himself a ship. But before he boarded, he felt Calista grab his arm.

  
"It feels like you just got back, and now you're leaving ag-"

  
Bennar interrupted Calista as he closed the distance between them; and it felt like as soon as it had started, his intimate gesture was cut off; and Bennar hopped into his ship with a smile. "I'll be back soon. I promise." He assured his wife, to which she smiled back. "With someone like the Chancellor, I know I'm going to be in good hands."

  
In the next moment, the canopy was closed, and Bennar was gone again; but this time, Calista was left with a grin, and a tingling in her lips.

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

  
Chapter 7

  
Bando had relaxed himself, and returned inside. Rye, Erickson, Ephraim, and the invisible man awaited him inside. There was suddenly a sense of calmness everywhere; it felt as though everyone had cleared their minds of any worry and distress.

  
"It's time." The man said.

  
Bando said nothing as he sat back down within the circle.

  
"I've got a good feeling about this." Erickson said.

  
"Now, let us focus." Invisible Man said as they centralized their focus.

  
\---

  
Kaiyah, Ailurah, and Becky stood in awe at the large study that was held under Ephraim's room. It was covered in papers that had notes and much more written all over it. There were markings even on the walls; but that was just what they could see.

  
"This flame isn't bright enough. Did he build fire lines in the wall?" Kaiyah asked herself. She held her hand to the wall, and sure enough, she saw a fire line. She shot out a flame, and it ignited all around the room. It also went up, and lit up the room with a wide ceiling chandelier. Now they could see the whole place, and it was much more of what they already saw.

  
"How are we going to figure out anything in time?" Kaiyah asked aloud.

  
"Ephraim's an organized person. We can find out more easily than we could if this was the case of a hyped up science rat." Becky replied.

  
The three scanned over the notes, then Ailurah quickly deduced, "It seems like he started out just, finding out where he could perform whatever it is he was trying to perform."

  
"Where?" Kaiyah asked.

  
"The library." Becky answered first. "The library contains countless documents of scarcely known information; I bet that was his first move." Becky said.

  
"Well Becky, I think you're on to something." Kaiyah said as she pointed to one specific note -where several others connected to- that read _'The library.'_

  
"The library was his first step in learning. Let's go." Kaiyah said as she rushed out.

  
"Why wasn't I told you guys had a library?" Ailurah asked as she followed behind.

  
\---

  
The three lifted off from Tatooine in pursuit of Dathomir II.

  
"Aren't we going to your library?" Ailurah asked.

  
"The library isn't on Tatooine. It's been kept where no regular man could find it. Exar's birth planet: Dathomir II." Becky said.

  
"Dathomir II? I've only heard of Dathomir and _Iridonia_. I thought Exar was born there."

  
"Nope." Kaiyah said. "But could you imagine if the library was on Tatooine. Then when the purge happ... _Everything_ would've been destroyed." She ended with a laugh.

  
"The library's being in a hidden location was a precaution, but that didn't stop one Republic squad from trying to take it." Becky explained as she finally entered hyperspace coordinates for Dathomir II and the ship went into lightspeed.

  
\---

  
"Now," Galen's voice started. "Before you ask your last question, you must answer one yourself."

  
"Tell me." Aang accepted.

  
\---

  
"You have done a remarkable job in overcoming your emotions, but now, you must take one last lest. The one all men dread."

  
"Um... ok." Exar said a little worriedly. "Facing your greatest fear?"

  
"No."

  
\---

  
"Everyone's challenge, is: facing their inner demons."

  
"How different is that from greatest fear?"

  
\---

  
"Everyone's demon, is facing the darkest part of themselves. Not what they're afraid of."

  
"I figured as much." Exar said.

  
\---

  
"It is dreaded, but not so much feared."

  
"Lay it on me." Aang told him.

  
\--- ---

  
"This isn't to be taken lightly."

  
\--- ---

  
The air seemed to swirl around Aang, as well as the dust. It went up and formed a dirt-nado around him. Then, it lifted from the ground and moved like a swarm of insects. It landed in front of him, then it separated and covered the cave room.

  
When it dissipated, Aang suddenly, fully understood what the voice was talking about.

 

\---

  
As did Exar.

  
\---Aang---

  
"Wait! Hold on! What is this?" Aang asked.

  
"You must face your dark side. Do so, with care, but also with relentlessness." Then the voice faded.

  
Aang faced the artificial image that formed in front of him. He was in Exar's room, and it was dimly lit. "Exar" was sitting in front of a hologram, and he was speaking to it.

  
"Log date 121401, I have a plan with Ephraim to help clean the galaxy. The plan itself doesn't go as far as one might expect, but I trust the force has a hand in its future. My friend will be and act as a sith. Under the spell, only a codephrase will break it off. I have to wait for his connection with the other sith to break before I act though."

  
Aang listened, but wasn't sure how he should feel. He knew that Exar knew of Erk's existence, but now he had just found out that Exar knew there were more; but me might not have known who they were, just that there were more. At this point, Aang was used to the "bombshells" Exar had been dropping over the past few weeks.

  
"Is there a point to this?' Aang asked, but no answer was heard. He sighed and continued watching.

  
"But this one thing I have to get off my chest. This must not go known by anyone else. I know that in someplaces, Zabraks are condescended; they have every reason to be. My great uncle, was a terrorist, and made his mark as a feared force all over. He took over Mandalore. Twice. He did so much to take revenge and to try to become the true sith lord." At this point, Aang was becoming frustratingly suspicious.

  
"And my new friend has told me that he's had a pretty bad struggle with him, so he can't find out I'm related to him."

  
Aang had a suspicion, and it was just confirmed. Exar's great uncle...

  
Was Darth Maul.

  
But just to be sure...

  
"Who is it?" Aang asked loudly. "Exar" jumped and bumped into a wall.

  
"A-Aang? What are you doing here?"

  
"Who? _Is_ it?" Aang asked menacingly. "Or, who _was_ it?"

  
"Does it matter now? He's dead."

  
"So it _is_ him." Aang said. "Your great uncle was Darth Maul."

  
"What? No? Savage Oppress. At least I _think_ that was his name. Maul never had kids."

  
" ** _Savage was Maul's brother! Maul's still your great uncle._**"

  
Exar seemed surely shocked. "How did I not know that? I heard Savage was the only one, and he took over Mandalore."

  
"Maul took over Mandalore; Savage was his right hand man. Exar, why didn't you say anything?"

  
"We haven't known each other for a long time; I thought it wouldn't have been appropriate."

  
Aang reminded himself this was Exar in the past. "I'm not from your era. I hadn't known until now."

  
"I figured. I noticed your outfit."

  
"Why wouldn't you tell me?" Aang asked again.

  
"I didn't want you to end up hurting me, therefore betraying me."

  
"You're gonna have to get over that soon; or your secrets will get you in trouble." Aang ignited one of his lightsabers. "I've had beef with Maul for a long time, but was never satisfied with removing his head from his neck. I need satisfaction."

  
"With _my_ head?" Exar asked. "Aang, this isn't the way to go. You _need_ , to let, _go_."

  
"Maul murdered hundreds. He needs justice."

  
"And he got it. Not in a way anyone else suspected."

  
"Are you talking about his defeat on _Tatooine_? I know of _that_."

  
"Not sure where you're going with that, but no. He wasn't yet defeated there. You should know, right?"

  
"I heard he survived that; he helped us defeat an Imperial tyrant, then died _again_. but not at my hand."

  
"No. There was more."

  
"What?"

  
"He survived the battle over Sullust... Wait, you don't know?"

  
"Know what?"

  
"... He became Snoke. That was his real name."

  
"Are you saying... **_I could've stopped him then?_**" Aang said as he retracted his blade and put his hilt back on his belt, and crossed his arms.

  
"Where _were_ you when the First Order was around?"

  
"I... was..." Exar got him there. Aang never paid attention to the times, but he remembered what he was doing before he met Exar. "I was experimenting. I, had to preserve."

  
"Uh huh." Exar murmured. "What is it specifically you have against Maul? What did he do to you?"

  
Aang was hesitant, then remembered that this was a vision of sorts. "He... killed my friends." Exar could see tears from his eyes.

  
"Your first friends? I know how that feels. Ephraim, Heceowa, and I think a couple others are the only ones of hundreds that survived the massacre of my home."

Aang was paying attention, his temper lowering. "I keep secrets from you guys not only for the sake of the future in hindsight, but because I'm scared of losing you. If the secrets I have were somehow leaked into the public... I couldn't live without any of you guys." Aang then saw tears streaming down Exar's face.  
"You just don't want to lose us?" Aang asked him quietly.

  
"I see now, that the longer I keep them, only the more I lose your trust. I have to keep secrets, but I can't lose you guys."

 

Aang stood still for a long moment.

  
"Excuse me." Exar muttered, dropping to his knees and meditating so he could clear his mind.

  
Then Exar felt arms wrapped around him, knocking him out of his peaceful state of mind.

  
"I'm sorry Exar. I'll try to respect your privacy from now on." After Aang finished his sentence, Exar disappeared. Aang opened his eyes and saw that Exar had flaked away.

  
After another moment, Galen's voice reappeared. "I am most impressed, Jedi. You have overcome -without much depth- your greatest challenge. Overcoming yourself, and your dark side."

  
"My dark side? You surely don't mean 'sith?' " Aang asked.

  
"No. You are a Jedi, but that doesn't mean you're without your dark side."

  
\---

  
Exar was about to face the same thing, but only this was much more terrifying. It seemed like the same situation when he faced Heceowa earlier, only this form was much more familiar. The orange and black tattoos spoke it all.

  
"Oh. Dark side. Mirtis." Exar nearly stuttered.

  


  
The beast whipped his head around and growled at Exar. He roared, backing Exar up.

  
"Man dos my breath smell that bad when I'm him?"

  
Mirtis X'd his arms, then Exar was left bedazzled and confused at what happened next. As Mirtis crossed his arms, three green, footlong kyber blades emerged from each of his wrists.

  
 _'Is that supposed to mean something?'_ Exar thought to himself.

  
Mirtis remained motionless, for an unknown reason to Exar.

  
 _'Am I supposed to do something?'_ He thought. _'This is me. Maybe I'm supposed to mirror his actions.'_ Exar slowly drew out his double-bladed lightsaber, and held it in an angled position across his body.

  
Mirtis held one hand out, and Exar held his free hand out the same. A single, tiny light orb appeared between their hands. Then, Mirtis began using the force to puch it to Exar; but as it got closer to Exar, it started turning black.

  
Exar didn't like the look of it, then pushed against it, and as it got nearer to Mirtis, it started glowing again. Mirtis began pushing again, and the cycle repeated.  
They kept pushing the force against each other, until they reached their limit, and couldn't outdo one another.

  
 _'Am I stronger than him? This might be easier than expected.'_ But that one prideful thought gave Mirtis all he needed to push the dark orb to Exar. It coursed through him, and everything around him went dark.

  
Exar suddenly felt weak and collapsed to the ground. He mustered the energy to look up to meet Mirtis and his cold, fiery green eyes.

  
"What?" Exar could barely gasp out. "Is this?"

  
"To me, it appears to be Exar's demise."

  
"But, **_*gasp*_** you're just _***gasp***_ a vision."

  
"Have you learned nothing? Or have you, buy you buried that information deep down where you buried me?"

  
"Riddle **_*gasp*_** speaking **_*gasp*_** is a popular **_*gasp*_** speaking mechanism **_*gasp*_** isn't it?"

  
"This isn't just a vision, and you know it."

  
"If my evil side _***gasp***_ is so much smarter **_*gasp*_** than me, then **_*gasp*_** tell me what it is."

  
"This, is your deciding fight. Your mental battle -not with a separate opponent- but yourself."

  
"Ok yeah **_*gasp*_** I think I got that."

  
"Then we know what happens next, don't we?"

  
\---

  
Becky's team arrived at Dathomir II shortly, via shortcut; they made their way to the library with haste. As they landed, Heceowa's squad ran forward to surround the ships, and they were tripping over each other.

  
"This has Heceowa written all over it." Kaiyah said, slouching in her chair.

  
" _Mhm_." Becky replied, equally amused.

  
The three exited their ships as Heceowa made his way to the front of the groups.

  
"I apologize for that embarrassment of an entourage, I. . . Kaiyah? Becky?"

  
"Heceowa. I see you were left in charge of this place." Kaiyah said.

  
"Um, Kaiyah-"

  
"Other than you two, Ephraim, and Exar, we're the only survivors." Heceowa interrupted Becky.

  
"You're talking about the purge, right?" Ailurah asked.

  
"I don't believe we've met." Heceowa said as he held out his hand.

  
"I'm Ailurah. Kaiyah's sister." Ailurah introduced, shaking his hand.

  
"Oh she has a sister?"

  
"Oh you didn't know?"

  
"I'm afraid not. Now, what can I do for you- hold on a second." He turned to his group, " ** _PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN! WE'VE BEEN OVER THIS!_** "

  
His squad lowered their weapons, and Heceowa continued. "What can I do for you three?"

  
"It's a bit of a long story." Kaiyah replied.

  
\---

  
"So you want to clone yourself so you and this Ephraim clone can live equal lives?" Heceowa summarized his understanding.

  
"It's a little hard to understand fully, but yes. As strange as it sounds, it needs to be done." Kaiyah said.

  
"If you insist. Here it is." Heceowa placed the torch he was carrying on the wall and they stood in front of the door to their library. "Exar and his Jedi team visited a couple weeks ago, and he returned the stolen shard to the door."

  
"Oh he was here recently?" Kaiyah asked in surprise.

  
"Yeah. We actually, kinda fought. We have different perspectives, and I got way ahead of myself."

  
"What happened?" Ailurah asked.

  
"I, uh, released Mirtis. Briefly."

  
"You did _**what**_?" Becky nearly freaked. "Exar had been trying to get rid of Mirtis for years. After he realized why he was given the name, he disowned it immediately. Once Mirtis's brought back, there's no going back. He's not going to go again."

  
"I got what I deserved for that, I suppose. When he gained the upper hand, the son of a bantha **_conjured a rope_** , _**tied me up with it**_ , and lowered me down to the cliff grounds. Took my guys twenty-three hours to find me."

  
"That sounds like punishment enough."

  
"Knowing Mirtis, I'm just glad it wasn't worse." Heceowa said as he stretched his hands out, using the force to start opening the doors. The others followed, and the doors soon opened.

  
"Take all the time you need." Heceowa said before they started exploring the library.

  
"Okay so what are we looking for?" Ailurah asked.

  
. . .

  
"Kaiyah?" Becky called. "Did you bring the Imager?"

  
"Uh, no why- Oh."

  
"Oh no worries. I brought one." Ailurah said.

  
"Did you take pictures of Ephraim's notes and stuff?" Kaiyah asked.

  
"I did while you guys weren't looking."

  
"I'd normally ask why you'd do that, but now I just want to see the pictures." Kaiyah said.

  
"Okay okay." Ailurah responded, pulling her sleeve back and showing her wrist holographic projector. She pressed a few buttons, and the gallery of images appeared. Ailurah tapped onto one and it enlarged.

  
"Oh dang." Ailurah muttered. "Blurry." She deleted the photo, and the next one appeared.

  
"Blurry."

  
Deleted.

  
"Blurry."

  
Deleted.

  
"Blurry."

  
Deleted.

  
"Blurry."

  
Deleted.

  
"Blurry."

  
Deleted.

 

" _This_ one's clear." Ailurah said as they all observed the photo.

  
"Any clues?" Kaiyah asked.

  
"Clues are my speciality. Lemme have a look." Becky said as she pulled Ailurah's wrist to her view.

  
"Guys need help finding something?" Heceowa asked from behind them.

  
"I'm usually smart when it comes to applying logic, but I haven't memorized the entire library."

  
"Then I'm your guy." Heceowa said.

  
"Good. Where might we find books that explain separation of spirit from body?"

 


	8. Chapter 8

  
Chapter 8

  
"You summoned me, my friend?" The voice spoke to the invisible man.

  
 _'Oh my! It's him!'_ Erickson's subconsciousness thought.

  
"It's been a while, yes. We are in need of your assistance. Three Jedi are trapped in the cave of secrets, and their masters need to find their way to the planet to rescue them."

  
"Ah yes, the Besalisk, the Zabrak, and the poor cyborg. If I recall, they followed the first comer shortly afterward." The voice said.

  
"The sith. We're aware. We can let him be lost in there. We just need the location of our team." Rye spoke.

  
"You know the sith will be trapped there, but if your team escapes, the sith will escape as well."

  
"What do you suggest we do?" Ephraim asked.

  
"Wait for the right time. Then I will tell you, then you will make your move."

  
"Might I ask how you knew our team?" Erickson asked.

  
"To put it plain and simply, I'm there too. But I'm not."

  
"Force-spirit thing." Ephraim muttered.

  
"What are you doing there?" Rye asked.

  
"It's a very long story. The Besalisk will explain when you unite."

  
"How is the team?" Rye asked.

  
\---

  
Exar was launched across the dark abyss; Mirtis grabbed his own fist and rubbed it.

  
"I had no idea we were this durable." Mirtis said.

  
"What ***gasp*** do you want?" Exar asked desperately.

  
"We want you to embrace us. I'm who you are. You were born to be me. I'm here for a reason. Without me, you're nothing."

  
"Well you know *gasp* what they say. *gasp* If I'm nothing without you, *gasp* then I shouldn't have you."

  
Mirtis grabbed his head and yelled. He floated over to Exar and punched him again. "You will embrace us."

  
He grabbed Exar's head. "I'll do this the hard way then." Mirtis's skin darkened until he was black. The black inched its way onto Exar, and his eyes misted up.

Whatever of Mirtis that appeared on Exar, it was removed from Mirtis's spirit. Soon, Exar was covered.

  
Mirtis was what remained.

  
Exar found himself surrounded by yet another black abyss. This time, only Mirtis's voice was heard.

  
"You are nothing."

  
Exar could neither move nor speak.

  
"You're nothing to everyone."

  
Exar couldn't stop the tear.

  
"Not to your masters."

  
He struggled to move.

  
"Not to your friends."

  
He was making a sound, but couldn't move his mouth.

  
"Not even to your parents, who cast you out to live in hell."

  
Exar closed his eyes.

  
The darkness consumed him.

  
. . .

  
. . .

  
. . .

  
. . .

  
In the midst of the darkness-

  
A speck of light.

  
The light grew.

  
"What are you doing?"

  
The light approached Exar, and moved inside of him. "I'm fighting." He said. "Mirtis. I know you're a part of me." The light grew. "You've always been there." The light grew again, and it was battling the darkness. "But you're nothing but evil." The darkness was being overcome. "And I don't need you."

  
The darkness was reduced to a small speck, then it exploded into tons of small comets, which lit up all round him. Exar was "fired up" with adrenaline, and the next thing he knew-

  
He was back.

  
"If I was nothing, then I would have already been cast out again." He said with satisfaction.

  
"Young Jedi." The voice spoke. "You have my praise. You have overcome the one task no man has dared to complete. You have overcome your demon, and now, you are free."

  
"Thank you. What do I do now?"

  
"What do you wish to do?"

  
Exar already knew whathe wanted to do.

  
"Can you get me to my friends?"

  
"I can." The voice said before a portal slowly opened up in front of him. He ran to it, and was about to jump through; the voice called out to him again.

  
"Exar Sunrider." He said. Exar lent his ear before going on. "May the force be with you."

  
Exar smiled and nodded, then went through the portal.

  
\---

  
"UH! UH! G-G-GUYS!" Kaiyah shouted.

  
Ailurah and Becky jumped at Kaiyah's loud voice, and were at her side in a second.

  
"I found it."

  
"Already? I though it would've taken longer." Ailurah said.

  
"I applied Ephraim's logic to the books he last checked out, and I found out." Kaiyah said.

  
"Can you tell us?" Becky asked.

  
"I'll tell you on the way!" Kaiyah answered as she got up and dashed out the door.

  
"Oh you're leaving?" Heceowa asked as he watched them run.

  
"Nice seeing you again." Kaiyah said excitedly before she dashed away again.

  
"I hope to see you again." Becky told him before chasing after Kaiyah.

  
"It was good to meet you." Ailurah said before following.

  
"Likewise." Heceowa said; but before he finished, they were all gone.

  
_'When are you coming back, Exar?'_

  
\---

  
"Kaiyah!" Becky shouted as she reached her fighter.

  
"What? We need to go."

  
"No we don't." Becky said.

  
"What?" Kaiyah and Ailurah asked simultaneously.

  
"Think, Kaiyah. Is it worth it?"

  
"Of course. You brought it up to me; you encouraged me to do this so I could live equally with Ephraim."

  
"Exactly! If you do what Ephraim did, your life will be shortened as well."

  
"I get that."

  
"Let me finish. Whenever I saw your future, I saw you living a long life. A bountiful one. I can't spoil it for you; but believe me, it's not worth sacrificing half your life for."

  
"You don't understand! I won't be able to live with myself if I lose Ephraim before his time. I'm willing to sacrifice half of mine if he was willing to do the same."

  
"That won't be your future. Please, trust me! Just, let it go. You need to learn to let go of what you fear to lose."

  
Kaiyah held back her tears from the thought of losing Ephraim and living alone without him. "I can't. I have to do this."

  
"No. You can't. You don't know the consequences of this action; it will only make things worse. I can't tell you what will happen, but you need to trust me. Don't do this. I know Ephraim's your best friend; but, friends... even family, you'll have to let go of."

  
"Why?"

  
"Some things are almost impossible to let go of, but they're worth letting go of; sometimes, the hardest choices are for the greater good. You need a strong will to let this happen."

  
"I don't _want_ to let it happen."

  
"I understand Kaiyah! More than you know, I know how it feels to lose someone close. But sometimes, you need to let go of your closest friend, or something worse than guilt will curse you the rest of your life."

  
"You're not very convincing."

  
"Trust me, Kaiyah. The pain isn't worth it."

  
. . .

  
"That'll be for me to decide."

  
"Kaiyah. Do you know where Ephraim is?" Becky asked.

  
"Going after Exar and his team, why?"

  
"Do you know _where_ he is?"

  
"Uh, no."

  
"The team was trapped on a planet with Erk's master." Kaiyah froze herself. "Ephraim is going after the team, and the Master will be there too."

  
"He's goi- . . . Can we find him?" Kaiyah asked.

  
"We can, but we'll have to move quickly." Becky answered as she and Ailurah ran and jumped into her fighter.

  
At that second, Kaiyah got the point. "You didn't want me to go copy Ephraim, because once I will have completed the process, Ephraim will have already been gone." Kaiyah turned to Becky. "I will have done it for nothing."

  
Becky smiled. "More than guilt, I'm telling you."

  
"Why didn't you say so?" Kaiyah asked, swinging her arms.

  
"It needed the explanation, plus the chapter needs to be extended." Becky said.

  
. . .

  
"Never mind. Come on; we gotta go." Becky concluded before the three went off to find Ephraim. "Thank the force I know where they'll be."

  
\---

  
Jo was growing tired and weary; he wanted to give up then and there.

  
"What am I supposed to do? I have no idea what 'Ben' was talking about, and I still can't find a way out of here." He said, then he heard something.

  
He readied his lightwhips -not yet igniting them- and slowly approached the sound's source. He heard the sound coming from around the corner, and put his back against the wall, and looked around.

  
He saw another man in the cave. He was digging through the cave with a picaxe, hammer, and nails.

  
"Excuse me, sir? What are you doing he-" Jo stopped in his tracks once the man was startled and turned around to face him.

  
The man too was shocked.

  
"Jo." The man said, tearing up and dropping everything.

  
"Kell." Jo said as he nearly dropped to his knees.

  
"Jo, what are you doing here?"

  
"W-w-w-what are you doing here? You were _dead_!" Jo asked sharply, also tearing up.

  
"I'm not dead. I never died. The day the hospital fell, I took Darin to a hospital room to try to heal him. Whenever the bomb threat was detected by a secret computer, Darin and I were immediately transported away. We had underground bunkers, and I was able to patch him up."

  
"Darin's alive?"

  
"He is. And I am too. I have discovered much since then."

  
"Like what?' Jo asked cheerfully.

  
"Jo. I want you to come with me." Kell said as a rock wall fell, and a path was seen in the wall.

  
"Where?"

  
"I have found a way."

  
"A way to what?"

  
"To heal you."

  
'Is he talking about what I think he is?'

  
"I can heal your body. You won't need those robotic limbs anymore."

  
. . .

  
\---

  
"Aang. You have succeeded and passed the test. Now, you may ask your final question."

  
Aang needed to know the Master to defeat him; he could ask about him, but he couldn't go anywhere afterwards. He could ask for a way out, but he'd be alone; he didn't want to explain any possibilities to his masters if they were to ever find him. At this point, he knew what he had to do.

  
"Can you take me to my friends?"

  
"I can." Then a portal opened up, and Aang immediately jumped through.

  
"Farewell, and good luck." Galen finished. _'Good thing he didn't forget the brick.'_

  
\---

  
Aang stepped through the portal, and once his portal closed, another opened up in front of him. And Exar stepped through.

  
They stared into each others eyes, then they ran up and embraced each other.

  
"Are you real?" Exar asked, tearing up.

  
"I am. Are you?"

  
"Definitely. I can't say how glad I am to see you." Exar said, pulling away.

  
"Where's Jo?" Aang asked.

  
"I don't know, but I have a feeling he's close by." Exar replied.

  
"You seem happier." Aang pointed out.

  
"You too. This cave is full of surprises, and secrets."

  
"A cave of secrets. Insightful ones. A very strange place it is, but I say it was worth it."

  
"We came here for revenge, and came out with self-satisfaction." Exar said as they remembered their masters.

  
"We should find Jo." Aang said.

  
"Yes. I agree, he should be clo-"

  
Then they heard something.

  
"Am I the only one hearing things this time?" Exar asked.

  
"No. Let's go." Aang said as they followed the noise. They went just around the corner, and were shocked at what they saw.

  
Jo was standing willfully in front of the Master, who had his hand out.

  
"Come with me, and you won't worry about those robotic limbs anymore."

  
" _ **JO! GET AWAY FROM HIM!**_ " Exar yelled.

  
Jo turned to them with a not-so-happy look on his face. "Kell" was about to intervene, but Jo put his hand up, motioning him back.

  
Jo approached the team, stood in front of them for a short moment, then said, "I'm going with him."

  
"Jo! What are you doing?" Aang asked

  
"This is my adoptive father. You've never met before."

  
"Oh we've met before, but he's not your adoptive father." Exar told him.

  
"You don't know what you're talking about. I know his face, and _that_ , is my adpotive father Kell. I've had enough of your crap! I haven't been treated well by you, and I don't see any reason to go on with you guys. I'm going with him.

  
"Jo, this is a trick. He, has no face; but a metal mask, and a red lightsaber." Aang said desperately.

  
Jo was back by Kell's side, then he turned around and faced the team again.

  
"This cave has done stuff to you guys."

  
"No! This sith is messing with _your_ mind. You, need to step away!" Aang said.

  
"Jo." Exar spoke up. "You're right. We haven't treated you fairly. We're sorry. If we could have you back, we'll do better. We'll do our best to fix our mistake."

  
Aang thought about that for a moment, then swiftly agreed. "Yes, Jo. I too, am sorry. Please, come back to us. Remember what we're living for."

  
Jo remembered his masters too. Then a thought clicked to him. He turned to "Kell," then asked, "After all these years, why didn't you come to look for me?"

  
 _'Oh my.'_ Kell/Master thought, unsurprised.

  
He received no answer.

  
Aang and Exar stared the Master down. Then Exar used the force to knock Master's head into the wall, making him break his concentration.

  
Jo saw the truth; and he recoiled, horrified.

  
The Master got up, but didn't engage.

  
"Yes, it's me. Kell is alive, as well as Darin; but without me, you'll never find them."

  
"Where are they?" Jo asked.

  
"Did you hear what I just asked?"

  
"But at the moment, I'm not without you. You're here to tell me what I need to know." Jo said.

  
"He's stalling." Exar said. "He wants something to happen."

  
"Or something _not_ to happen." Then the Master disappeared into the hole in the wall. "Until next time, Jedi."

  
"That was a little anticlimactic." Aang said.

  
"Yeah, and that last one-liner could've gone without saying." Jo said. He then faced his team, then hugged them. "I'm sorry guys. I almost fell for it."

  
"But you didn't." Aang said as he pulled away.

  
"Okay, I hate to break up the moment, but can we find a way to get out of here?" Exar asked.

  
"The sith incidentally revealed the way out." Jo said with a smirk. He gestured all around him. "These are just plain rocks, so they'll act like plain rocks."

  
"I see where you're going with this." Aang said as he pulled out his lightsabers, Exar following.

  
"Just use the force to throw them straight up. We'll be breathing normal air again soon." Jo said.

  
Exar and Aang thrust their lightsabers up, and the rock was easily cut through. Jo grabbed onto his teammates, and used his boot jets to fly up. They then found themselves on the top; they all took a breath of fresh air.

  
Then they celebrated.

  
"I've never done something like this without major help." Exar said.

  
"Well, that's why we have Jo. Our quick thinker." Aang said.

  
"Too bad you're not a quick thinker." Jo joked.

  
"What do you mean?"

  
"Think fast." Jo speedily said, then a rock bounced off of Aang's head.

  
"Ow! Haha!" Aang said, rubbing his head.

  
Then they heard one of the most satisfying sounds of their lives. Gunships.

  
They looked up and saw a Republic gunship descending down towards them. Ephraim was leaning out and waving at them. Then the ship turned, and there they were.

  
"Masters!?" The team shouted before jumping high up and into the ship, embracing their well-alive masters.

  
"These past few minutes have been the best of my life!" Exar said, tearing up again.

  
"Indeed. Let's go home." Rye said.

  
"How did you guys find us?" Jo asked.

  
"That's a _really_ long story." Erickson answered.

  
Then the ship flew up and away.

  
But they had no idea they were watched. The Master observed from afar, and grinned. "Everything is falling into place."

 

**_THE END..._ **

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**_TO BE CONTINUED IN "YOUTH WARS PART V: GHOST STORY"_ **


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